A student group has expressed doubts over the government's ability to handle the just-concluded Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
Persatuan Kebangsaan Pelajar Islam Malaysia (PKPIM) said it is not satisfied with the "script-like" answers given by International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed on the TPPA.
"How can we feel confident in the country's abilities to handle TPPA when the government can't even handle the economy and the big political scandals involving the country's highest leadership?" PKPIM president Mohammad Fazril Mohd Saleh asked in a statement today.
"This is also an issue that could be raised with foreign investors in the Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in the TPPA," he added.
Mustapa had said yesterday that Malaysian concerns and sensitivies would be considered in the TPPA.
The people are also disappointed with TPPA in general, with Mohammad Fazril saying the government has finally "sold the country".
"Malaysian students have lost our trust in the integrity of the government," he said.
The government needs to stop making empty promises about the benefits of the goods and services tax (GST) as it has failed to control the rise of prices after its implementation.
If it cannot even control GST, how can the government hope to control prices of things after TPPA, Mohammad Fazril asked.
"We doubt the TPPA entirely. We definitely doubt the government. Don't gamble with our future," he said.
PKPIM and other student groups will continue to push the govenrment on this issue, he said, even though the participating countries have concluded their TPPA negotiations.
Negotiations on TPPA began in 2010 and was successfully concluded in Atlanta, United States, yesterday.
It has been said that the TPPA will cut trade barriers and set common standards for 12 countries.
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