PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said in a statement that the referendum was necessary as the TPPA could have a profound impact on the country’s future when it is in full force.

“The government cannot decide to sign the agreement based on the stand taken by 134 Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament of whom, it is proven, will follow the leader,” he said, adding that the parliamentary debate on the TPPA was nothing more than a “political show”.

A referendum, Tuan Ibrahim explained, would see the implications of the agreement spelled out more clearly through a series of explanations from all parties involved.

Meanwhile, DAP’s Ong Kian Ming said he still had some key concerns over the agreement that needed to be adequately addressed.

This included exemptions for Public-Private Partnership (PPP) contracts and the Bernas monopoly on importing rice; the possible impact of unionisation; the higher possibility of American corporations using the Investor State Dispute Settlement against the government; the unknown effect on the future prices of medicines, specifically those under the ‘biologics’ category; and the extension of copyright provisions.

“If these concerns are not properly and honestly addressed by the Trade and Industry Minister, they would constitute sufficient grounds not to support the TPPA,” the Serdang MP said in a statement.

Ong also said there was a lot of misinformation being circulated regarding the potential effects of the TPPA.