A further reason to defer the debate is to allow Malaysian parliamentarians and stakeholders more time to analyse the implications of the trade agreements on the country. The present strategy is to bulldoze the agreement through parliament.

In a short period of four to five weeks, parliamentarians are required to debate a 6000 page, two million word legal document involving technical references and side letters on a variety of complex issues.

Furthermore, an understanding of the inter-chapter linkages are crucial to the understanding of the agreement itself.