Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) wants the government to hold a referendum to allow Malaysians to decide on the implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
The party’s deputy Youth chief Faiz Fadzil said the rakyat should be aware of the long-term effects of the trade agreement.
“Especially on the country’s future, which will be at stake if the TPPA is implemented.
“The rakyat must be united in rejecting the TPPA," he said in a statement today.
Faiz said a referendum was therefore needed since the rakyat are the ones who would be experiencing the effects of the TPPA.
“Do not utilise the legislative and executive powers to legitimise an agreement which would only benefit the imperialist powers, but would affect the lives and freedom of the people,” he stressed.
The former PAS leader stressed that the TPPA is only a gateway to a new form of colonialism to the country.
“Are the rakyat willing to be colonised again through the same modus operandi?” he asked, citing the Pangkor Treaty of 1874 that had opened doors to the British to conquer Perak’s economy and administration.
“The chants of ‘gold, glory and gospel’ will be played again.”
Meanwhile, Faiz stressed that a referendum on the matter was only proper since history has shown how BN MPs would throw their full support to any of the government’s policies, while the opposition would not come out with a united final say.
This is exacerbated by the failure to vote down Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Budget 2016 this week despite a number of Umno MPs being highly critical of their PM’s leadership.
“The desire to vote down the budget recently saw how there were several MPs who wanted to ‘advise’ (the government) had decided to abstain from voting,” he said, in a dig to his former party colleagues.
The TPPA is a wide-ranging trade agreement between the US and 11 countries, including Malaysia.
While negotiations concluded on Oct 5 in Atlanta, the agreement still needs to be signed by the respective countries’ governments.
US President Barack Obama has been stepping up efforts to hardsell the idea to Malaysians during his visit to the Asean Summit this week.
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