Its Communication’s Director, Khalid Samad, also said he was concerned over the recalibration of the budget as several ministries would suffer cuts, notably the Health Ministry whose budget would be slashed by RM300 million.

“We don’t want the government to give priority to the Prime Minister’s department again,” he said at a press conference.

Khalid said the Opposition wanted to discuss the implications of the drop in crude oil prices from USD45 to USD30 per barrel on the economy, namely if it would cause the country’s deficit to increase.

“This must be debated and passed in Parliament first.”

He said Pakatan Harapan would conduct a TPPA briefing for the public and urged for the ratification of the agreement to be postponed until they could gain the people’s feedback.

Meanwhile, PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah questioned how the people would benefit from the TPPA and said there was simply not enough time to study the agreement in detail before having it passed in Parliament.

“What about the benefits for welfare and small and medium enterprises (SMEs)?”

“The 26th and 27th [of January] must be used to inform the rakyat about the current economic development and the prediction of crude oil prices. The people must know,” she said, alluding to the dates for the parliamentary debate on the TPPA.