Perkasa's Ibrahim Ali should be questioning Umno on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) instead of DAP, said the party’s national assistant publicity secretary Zairil Khir Johari.

"Instead of dragging DAP into racial polemics, Ibrahim Ali should ask for a more detailed and transparent explanation from the Umno government," Zairil said in a statement today.

The minister in charge of the TPPA is International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed and as such, he would know more about the contents of the TPPA, he added.

He also reminded that the ruling Umno government will be the one to give its final approval to the agreement, not DAP.

That is why Ibrahim should be asking Mustapa and the Umno government his questions on the TPPA, he said.

The TPPA issue is a blanket issue for everyone in Malaysia, he explained, and so should not be looked at from only one aspect - race - which is Ibrahim's focus.

DAP's ‘simple’ stand on TPPA

For DAP, Zairil said, the issue of TPPA is "very simple".

If the trade agreement will benefit everyone in the country, DAP will support it.

However, if TPPA causes a rise in the cost of living for the people, then DAP will be strongly against it, he said.

"Like other policies, DAP will only support it if the agreement brings benefits to Malaysians in general, including Malays who form the majority in this country.

"But if TPPA causes the prices of things to go up and further complicates the country's economy, then for sure DAP will be against it till the end," Zairil said.

As long as the contents of TPPA is not revealed though, he added, they cannot properly evaluate the agreement's impact on the Malaysian people.

Hence, DAP is also urging for the details of the TPPA to be made public, along with the cost-benefit analysis.

Yesterday, Ibrahim said that he wanted to know DAP's stand on the TPPA, especially if they will defend bumiputra's rights in the agreement.

He had also clarified that he believes protecting the bumiputras, who are the majority in the country, would naturally lead to national security.

"Hopefully they (DAP) will be together (against TPPA) for the national interest," he had told reporters.