The debate, which would involve eight government backbenchers and eight opposition MPs, should be the first step of something bigger: a memorandum of understanding (MOU) 2.0.
The MOU signed between Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s Keluarga Malaysia government and the Pakatan Harapan opposition gave Malaysia 13 months of political stability at the tail end of Covid-19. We need something similar between the Madani government and the Perikatan Nasional opposition because the US president’s trade war may pose a greater threat to Malaysians.
More threatening than Covid-19
Trump’s tariff does not just affect Malaysia’s export to the US, the second largest export destination, which accounted for 13.2 percent of Malaysia’s total export in 2024. It can cause...