Cabinet supports a 10-year cap on the prime minister’s tenure, marking a key step in Malaysia’s institutional reform agenda
PETALING JAYA: The government has backed a 10-year limit on the prime minister’s tenure under its ongoing institutional reform drive.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the move is an important step to strengthen accountability, checks and balances and constitutional-based governance under the Madani government institutional reform agenda.
“The decision was made at the Friday weekly Cabinet meeting.
“The Cabinet thoroughly reviewed policy inputs, public feedback and recommendations submitted through holistic engagement sessions involving various stakeholders,” she said in a statement.
Azalina said the proposed term limit aims to prevent excessive concentration of power, strengthen the democratic system and enhance public trust in national leadership institutions, in line with mature democratic practices at the international level.
She said moving forward, the government will implement several related amendments to the Federal Constitution, which are expected to be tabled in Parliament during the current sitting.
Previously, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government has drafted a Bill to limit the prime minister’s tenure to a maximum of 10 years, or two full terms, which will be tabled in Parliament this year.
He described the move as part of the government’s institutional reforms for the current parliamentary session.
“Everyone has a term limit, the chief secretary to the government cannot be up to 10 years. It also applies to everyone. It is better for us to hand it over to the next generation.”
Malaysia has never had term limits for its prime ministers, allowing them to serve indefinitely as long as they maintain parliamentary support.
The country previously attempted to introduce a two-term limit for the prime minister, but the effort was abandoned.
According to the Hansard, the official record of Dewan Rakyat proceedings, the proposal was handled differently under the administrations of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
On Dec 3, 2019, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, then minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law, tabled the Bill for its first reading.
However, the second and third readings, which are necessary for the Bill to become law, were deferred to 2020.
On Aug 26, 2020, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan, who was then minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Parliament and Law), withdrew the Bill before it could reach the second reading.
The following day, on Aug 27, 2020, Takiyuddin stated that the government was not obliged to provide reasons for withdrawing any Bill, saying that it had originally been introduced by the previous Pakatan Harapan administration.
Takiyuddin added that the withdrawal reflected the policy of the current government and confirmed that the Perikatan Nasional administration was not interested in pursuing the reform.
