Pakatan Harapan will oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) in the upcoming special parliamentary sitting on the trade agreement, which is set to commence on Jan 26.

PKR vice-president and Batu MP Tian Chua said the party has also deliberated on the matter with Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) and DAP, and both Harapan component parties have given the same commitment that they will vote against the controversial trade agreement.

Speaking to reporters at the TPPA Summit 2016, Tian Chua said the decision was made based on discussions held by the opposition coalition’s committee on the TPPA.

“In the coming parliamentary session, all three parties have agreed on this: we will not support the TPPA,” he said.

They will also discuss the matter with PAS to ensure there is unity among the opposition parties with regard to the matter.

“We heard from our TPPA committee that PAS has endorsed this (anti-TPPA stand).

“But we will have a meeting before Jan 26 to reach a consensus,” he noted, at the event organised by the coalition Bantah TPPA and PAS-backed NGO Kongres Rakyat.

Chua however lamented how Barisan Nasional seemed “very determined” to push through the TPPA.

Stating that opposition MPs were regularly in touch with MPs from the other side of the political divide as well, Chua claimed that most of them did not agree with previous issues like Budget 2016 and the National Security Council (NSC) bill.

‘The whip system will overrule’

“Privately, most of them agree with us but in the end the whip system (will overrule).

“But we hope they will listen more to the rakyat,” he said, pointing out how the issue was not a political thing, but was rather related to the country’s sovereignty and economic well-being.

The opposition, he said, will list down the risks involved if the TPPA is signed during the debate session in Parliament.

“And I am certain that in one year’s time, everyone will come back and say what the opposition said was true,” he said, citing previous objections in relation to the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Malaysia - together with 11 other countries - agreed to the TPPA during negotiations which concluded in Atlanta, the United States.

Opposition parties and civil society have been resolute in their resistance to the TPPA.

Critics to the agreement fear damaging industry-state dispute settlements, as well as higher cost of medicine, among others.