VIDEO | 3.50  mins

Parti Sosialis Malaysia has threatened to hold a large-scale demonstration should the government proceed to sign the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) without debating the matter in Parliament first.

NONE Party treasurer A Sivarajan ( centre, in photo ) said the even the United States, one of the countries involved in the trade agreement, has debated the matter in Congress, but Malaysia has yet to provide firm answers to the public on the contents of the agreement.

“If the TPPA is enforced, we will bring 28 million Malaysians from all over the country to protest the agreement,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters in front of the Parliament entrance this morning, where PSM held a protest against the TPPA, before a representative entered the building to hand over a memorandum of protest.

The memo was addressed to four people, namely the Dewan Rakyat speaker, the prime minister, opposition leader and the chairperson of the BN backbenchers club.

They demanded three items, namely the suspension of the TPPA talks, the TPPA to be tabled and debated in Parliament immediately, and the cost benefits of the TPPA agreement ito be revealed and explained to all.

According to Sivarajan, the memo is is backed by 44 other groups comprising non-governmental organisation, civil society groups and workers unions.

International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed was on hand to accept the memo, along with Lembah Pantai MP and PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar.

Mustapa pledged that he will read the content of the memo.

The TPPA is a free trade agreement involving 11 countries including Malaysia. The 18th round of the negotiations is being conducted in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah from yesterday until July 25.

The deal has received protests from various communities including small and medium industries, who claimed it would affect the local economy, and among others may hike the prices of medication.

TPPA may turn Malaysia into US 'slave', warns don