Parliament says ‘aye’ to TPPA

A total of 127 MPs vote in favour of TPPA, 84 against.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is now a step away from signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

This after Dewan Rakyat Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia announced that a majority of lawmakers voted in favour of the motion, following a two day debate over the trade pact.

127 voted for Malaysia to sign the TPPA, compared to the 84 who dissented. It was learnt that 11 lawmakers, including DAP’s Liew Chin Tong – who is recovering from Bell’s palsy – did not turn up.

“Therefore the motion tabled by the International Trade and Industry Minister is passed,” Dewan Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia said after the vote, which was held at 7.10pm

In reality however, despite the parliamentary debate and a rally to protest the TPPA, it was expected that Parliament would favour Malaysia becoming part of the pact as Barisan Nasional lawmakers outnumber Opposition Members of Parliament 133 to 89.

The Opposition’s unanimous vote against the TPPA today also proved PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang wrong after he accused DAP of supporting the trade pact on the grounds that the Chinese dominated the economy.

Earlier today, lawmakers from both sides again reiterated the pros and cons of the agreement.

Semporna MP Shafie Apdal urged the government to examine the agreement thoroughly, while DAP’s Ong Kian Ming proposed the government set up a special parliamentary committee to monitor TPPA’s implementation.

Describing the United States of having a “lawsuit happy” attitude, Kelana Jaya MP Wong Chen warned that Malaysia was at risk of being sued by the US-based corporations if the country signed the TPPA and the signing of the agreement would jeopardise its relationship with China.

Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam meanwhile denied allegations that the price of medicine would spike, while de-facto Law Minister Nancy Shukri called on lawmakers from both sides to avoid assuming the government was selling out to the United States.

International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed who also tabled the motion said Malaysia would lose potential investors to other countries should it reject the trade deal.

He also argued in his winding up speech that the government decided the TPPA was balanced and will benefit Malaysia.