A coalition of 200 NGOs have urged the Malaysian cabinet to suspend negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) and not to blindly agree to the agreement before getting alternative views.

In a protest led by the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM), the coalition said that they believed so far, only one-sided views from the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) and commercial groups, which back the TPPA, have passed through to Putrajaya.

NONE “I have met (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) and I have voice my concerns, the PM might not know all the details,” said MTEM CEO Mohd Nizam Mahshar ( left ).

“His source of information is basically from Miti, so we are providing an alternative source.”

Nizam said that in their meetings with Miti, only the positive aspects of the TPPA had been presented and details were kept secret.

“We do not want the government to be ill-advised. Miti has told us that all concerns are captured but.. even what the Malaysian position is, we do not know,” Nizam said.

The Malaysian cabinet is due to  meet tomorrow on the TPPA and it is believed that two years of negotiations, lasting 18 rounds, are to be presented to the decision-makers.

The next round of TPPA negotiations to be held in Brunei from Aug 22 to 30 may be the final round, Nizam said, adding that civil society is stepping in now to halt Miti from getting a possible  mandate from the cabinet to finalise the TPPA.

10 main issues

During the hour-long press conference at the clubhouse of a club in Selangor, the coalition read out and elaborated on a list of 10 main issues that the TPPA would bring up. If the TPPA is passed, they said, medicine costs would rise, labour wages would be capped, tobacco restrictions may be lifted and more stringent intellectual property rights would apply. Social and economic policies and environmental laws would also be hard to enact.

But to top it off, he said the TPPA carries a controversial mechanism called investor-state dispute settlement system (ISDS) which would allow foreign investors to bring lawsuits against governments if local laws are found to be out of sync with the TPPA. 

“We are not convinced that TPPA will benefit our country,” Nizam said.

The group had previously staged a street protest and presented their demands to Miti but have met with a lukewarm reception in subsequent meetings, they said.

Miti minister Mustapa Mohamed has however last  promised the group more “open engagement”, Nizam said, adding that perhaps their fight had reached “the last mile” as the cabinet was also now taking an stronger interest in the TPPA.

Nizam said Miti has also promised to meet the coalition representatives again on Friday, after the cabinet meeting.