GOMBAK MP Mohamed Azmin Ali told the Dewan Rakyat today he is confident that Perikatan Nasional (PN) will be the next government after the 15th general election.

“I am confident that the government that will be formed after the next general election will be the PN government,” he told the house today, which drew jeers from the opposition side.

The international trade and industry minister was responding to an additional question from Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-PH), who asked him how the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) ratification that was approved by the cabinet will be implemented if parliament is dissolved today or soon.

Since the CPTPP would require some legislation to be amended, Lim asked if it would get the similar mandate from the new government.

This is when Azmin responded that the PN will be the next government and that they will continue with the current efforts.

Regardless, Azmin also said that parliament should not be dissolved now as the country needs time to still recover economically.

“Even though the economic indicators are getting better, we need a little more time so that the economic recovery process can really have a positive effect on the people,” he said.

He, however, believed, whichever government formed after polls should prioritise the people and the country.

Earlier today, Azmin said that the cabinet has agreed for the CPTPP to be ratified.

“Based on the mandate, the government has officially sent an instrument of ratification to the CPTPP depository, which is New Zealand on September 30.

“With this, the ratification of the CPTPP for Malaysia is considered complete and it will come into effect for Malaysia on November 29, 2022,” he said.

Malaysia is the ninth country out of 11 members to ratify this agreement, he added.

Other members of the free trade agreement, originally called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.  

The 11 countries signed the deal in March 2018, and Malaysia is the ninth country to have ratified the CPTPP, leaving Brunei and Chile to follow suit.

Malaysia said findings of its “Cost-Benefit Analysis” showed that under the CPTPP, the country’s total trade is expected to increase to US$655.9 billion (RM3.04 trillion) in 2030.

The country’s total trade stood at around RM2.2 trillion last year, according to the Statistics Department. – October 6, 2022.