BN parliamentarians will be voting on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) 'in the usual manner' on Wednesday, which is to follow the directives of the party whip.

BN Backbencher's Council (BNBBC) chairperson Shahrir Abdul Samad said there is no tradition of withdrawing the whip in the Dewan Rakyat.

“(We) will be voting as usual. There is no tradition of taking off the whip,” he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur when asked today.

He was speaking at a press conference after holding a pre-council meeting with BN parliamentarians ahead of special parliamentary sitting on TPPA that starts tomorrow.

However, with the full text of TPPA being made public and explanations have been given, Shahrir said he believes any misgivings BN parliamentarians have had in the beginning have since been dismissed.

He said despite initial fears, it later turned out that the TPPA was not what the MPs thought it to be.

“From what I see, whatever misgivings they had, or even for me, […] once we started getting the information and the explanations, and when we get to read the actual text, we can see that it is an agreement that is not as envisioned,” he said.

'Zionist control'

He said among the initial fears was TPPA's purported impacts on issues such as agriculture, or that it would allow the US or Zionists to exert influence on Malaysia.

These concerns turned out to be unfounded.

Shahrir said the problem is that the campaign against the TPPA had started two years before the agreement was even finalised, causing many to oppose it.

He said although the agreement would soon be voted upon, information campaigns on the TPPA would still continue to teach people about TPPA throughout the agreement's two-year ratification period.

On its part, the BNBBC will be forming at least three working groups to monitor TPPA's implementation, each focusing on the areas of small and medium enterprises (SME), labour affairs, and environment.

These groups will be engaging with the public to help ensure that TPPA would be implemented properly.

“We don't take the view that our job is done once it is passed. No. We are interested in seeing that it is well-implemented, and that our capabilities as Malaysians are good,” he said.

For the two-day debates at the Dewan Rakyat, Shahrir said 30 BN parliamentarians have expressed interest in participating in the debates, but that figure would have to be trimmed to just 15 speakers unless more time would be given.

The speakers list have yet to be finalised, he said, but would include BN's five representatives in the bipartisan TPPA caucus, and a fair representation of all BN parties and for Sabah and Sarawak BN representatives.

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