Twists and turns in TPPA

In 1963, the Beatles sang "Twist and Shout" in front of the royal family in London.

If I were a musician (I’m not, sadly) I would come up with my own song and sing it before our government leaders. And that song would be titled "Twist and Turn".

Twisting and turning is what I feel ministers have been doing in explaining issues faced by the nation. Yes, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is one them.

But this is not about that. Rather, I am talking about the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

You see, based on what and how our ministers speak about it, it seems the meaning of "agree" is not the "agree" I take it to mean.

I’ve always thought that when we agree on something, it's agreed that we agree to agree. Confusing? But you know what I mean.

If we need to discuss it further with family and friends, then we simply tell the other party we are to enter into agreement with  that we need to take it back home to do just that. Meaning we have not agreed on anything. No agreement yet. Only after discussing with our people will we come back with a definite or final decision, ie. to agree or not.

Obviously that’s not the case with TPPA and Malaysia.

Twelve countries including our beloved Malaysia have agreed to the TPPA. "It's a done deal", screamed the headlines of local English daily The Star a day after the news broke.

And as the agreement is seen as not good (to put it nicely) for Malaysia, a great number of Malaysians are crying foul (to put it nicely also).

As people are "making noises", demanding that the government not sign the agreement, federal minister Khairy Jamaluddin tweeted: "There’s a difference between agreeing on and signing TPP." 

He went on to tweet: "Agree means no more negotiations. Text is set, but signing only after Parliament debate."

Now that’s a double baffle for me.

No more nego. Then bring it to Parliament and debate for what?

Opponents to the agreement can say what they want – it won’t change anything.

It’s not that deliberations can rectify the already agreed-on agreement. It is after all "a done deal".

For out-of-favour Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, the government needs to fine tune the TPPA before signing it. Going by his remarks, "changes can be made". So it is not a done deal yet?

Could he somehow have missed Khairy’s "explanation" tweet?

Even anti-TPPA  folk sadly concur with Khairy that the "text is ready" to be signed. And it will be signed. After the Parliament debate. Which, dare we say, renders the Parliament debate futile.

Enter federal minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed who, according to the PM, was given the mandate to "safeguard Malaysia’s interests" at the TPPA negotiations.

Take a look at his statement issued via national news agency Bernama on October 6 where he said whether or not Malaysia becomes a party to the TPPA would be a collective decision.

"Once the complete and official text of the agreement is prepared it will be in public domain and presented to Parliament for debate.
We will also hold full consultation with interested parties and the public."

Is he saying it’s not a done deal?

But going by Khairy’s explanation, negotiations are already closed. So did Mustapa, like Shafie, also somehow miss Khairy’s tweet?

But recently in a special interview with Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia,  Mustapa said there was no need of Parliament approval for the TPPA.

He said no amendments could be made to the TPPA, going on to say that Parliament could either accept it or reject it as a whole (judging from who has the most MPs, which way the ayes would go is a no-brainer).

Rewind earlier question: why bring it to Parliament in the first place?

Because "the TPPA had attracted plenty of criticism", said Mustapa as quoted by Utusan. Meaning, "you can criticise as much as you want but it will not change a single thing".

So it’s back to Khairy’s tweet. It’s a done deal. No negotiation. And it will be shoved down our throats.

But wait.

The TPPA is not likely to be tabled this year, due to "time constraints". So said Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, yet another federal minister.

Is that supposed to make us feel happy or what?

"It is rather challenging to try bring it to Parliament this year, but we will try. After all we need to familiarise people with the TPPA first because many are still confused," said Ong.

But minister sir, just who is making "the many confused"? – October 13, 2015.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.