
GLOBAL CORPORATE RULE. Why the trans-Pacific trade agreement (CPTPP) should not be ratified by Malaysia.
The proliferation of free trade agreements; international
and bilateral agreements; and the World Trade Organisation have ushered in an era of corporate rule.
Juan Hernandez Zubizaretta has written, “the reinterpretation of legislation in favour of capital and transnational corporations and the regulatory asymmetry this causes vis-a-vis the rights of the unprotected majorities are undermining the rule of law, the separation of powers and the very essence of democracy”.
Many of the trade agreements (like the CPTPP) carry the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which allows corporations to sue countries for alleged discriminatory policies, for perceived loss of profits or for adjustments of contracts.
The financial penalties can be catastrophic for many countries.
Chilean President Salvador Allende sums it best at the UN General Assembly in 1972, described how huge ‘transnational’ corporations were waging war against sovereign states and were ‘not accountable to or regulated by any parliament or institution representing the collective interest… In a word, the entire political structure of the world is being undermined’.