Malaysia’s PM: More scrutiny and flexibility is required around the TPP

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, is speaking out for transparency and accountability when it comes to the ultra-secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

 

During a dialogue session at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali, Indonesia, Najib – who is also Malaysia’s Finance Minister - stated firmly that an agreement as vast and important as the TPP could not be decided behind closed doors:

 

In particular, Najib raised serious concerns about several chapters in the TPP – concerns that he said must be addressed in order to ensure that the interests of the Malaysian people are well served:

 

Najib is not the first head of state to call for greater accountability and public discussion around the TPP. Most recently, David Cunliffe, New Zealand’s Labour Leader, has called on his government to release the TPP text for public review and debate. Similarly, Chile’s Senate set an amazing example for the eleven other nations involved in the TPP negotiations by petitioning the government for an open debate about the monumental agreement, including calling for“timely and accurate” information about the impact of the agreement on Chilean economic and international relations. And Canadian Official Opposition Trade Critic Don Davies has also demanded greater transparency, saying it’s unacceptable that Canada’s Parliament has been left “in the dark”.

 

The fight to open the TPP to public scrutiny continues. Over 100,000 people have spoken out against the TPP’s extreme Internet censorship plan. Join them at https://OpenMedia.org/Censorship

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

From Bernama, the official news portal of National News Agency of Malaysia:

 

NUSA DUA (BALI), Oct 7 (Bernama) -- The government is committed to presenting the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement to Members of Parliament so that they can make an easier judgement on the pact, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said on Monday.

 

"We need to present it (TPP) to Parliament in Malaysia," he said during a dialogue session at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Chief Executive Officers' (CEO) summit 2013 here.

 

"Once we know more, then it is easier for us to make our judgement," said Najib, who is also Finance Minister.

 

"The timeline was desirable that we try to conclude it by the end of this year, but it is not cast in stone."

 

He also expressed deep concern over several areas in the TPP talks as they impinged on sovereign rights pertaining to the formulation of regulations and policies.

 

Read more at Bernama