PSM: FTA will enslave Malaysians
Published: Jun 12, 2006 8:03 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
Workers, farmers and the mass majority of Malaysians would be enslaved if the government inked a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, warned Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today.
Workers, farmers and the mass majority of Malaysians would be enslaved if the government inked a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the United States, warned Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) today.
Its pro-tem secretary-general S Arutchelvan urged the government to stop all talks with the government regarding this matter.
In a press statement, he said conditions created under the FTA would normally only benefit developed countries.
"It is extremely dangerous to dream of getting a better deal as developing countries like Malaysia would find ourselves in weaker bargaining and negotiating power in comparison to multilateral negotiations.
"The agreement would only benefit huge corporate sectors in the US and some Malaysian-based companies," he added.
Arutchelvan said besides being a 'dumping ground for US products', there was nothing much else to look forward to in the FTA.
"The FTA if signed would be another gateway to open our economy to the developing countries to suck into our resources and wealth. There is also a tendency to liberalise labour and environmental laws in the process," he added.
He said based on the many neo-liberal policies pursued by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, it would just be a matter of time before the "government sells our interest" to the US.
Public kept in the dark
The PSM leader said the manner in which the FTA talks were being handled contradicted Abdullah's claim that his administration was clean and transparent.
"There seems to be a total disregard for transparency and accountability. Recently, Malaysia signed the FTA with Japan in a similar fashion. The Malaysian public is kept in the dark while there is hardy any public participation in the discussion," he added.
Arutchelvan pointed out that it was a well known fact that FTAs were backdoor ventures by capitalist nations to profit and rule the world.
The FTA talks with the US kicked-off in Penang today.
The first round of negotiations is expected to run for four days, with the US delegation led by assistant trade representative for the Asia-Pacific Barbara Weisel.
Its pro-tem secretary-general S Arutchelvan urged the government to stop all talks with the government regarding this matter. In a press statement, he said conditions created under the FTA would normally only benefit developed countries.
"It is extremely dangerous to dream of getting a better deal as developing countries like Malaysia would find ourselves in weaker bargaining and negotiating power in comparison to multilateral negotiations.
"The agreement would only benefit huge corporate sectors in the US and some Malaysian-based companies," he added.
Arutchelvan said besides being a 'dumping ground for US products', there was nothing much else to look forward to in the FTA.
"The FTA if signed would be another gateway to open our economy to the developing countries to suck into our resources and wealth. There is also a tendency to liberalise labour and environmental laws in the process," he added.
He said based on the many neo-liberal policies pursued by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's administration, it would just be a matter of time before the "government sells our interest" to the US.
Public kept in the dark
The PSM leader said the manner in which the FTA talks were being handled contradicted Abdullah's claim that his administration was clean and transparent.
"There seems to be a total disregard for transparency and accountability. Recently, Malaysia signed the FTA with Japan in a similar fashion. The Malaysian public is kept in the dark while there is hardy any public participation in the discussion," he added.
Arutchelvan pointed out that it was a well known fact that FTAs were backdoor ventures by capitalist nations to profit and rule the world.
The FTA talks with the US kicked-off in Penang today.
The first round of negotiations is expected to run for four days, with the US delegation led by assistant trade representative for the Asia-Pacific Barbara Weisel.
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