Tenure of PM, CMs and MBs to be capped at two terms

KUALA LUMPUR: The tenure of the prime minister, chief ministers and mentris besar will be capped to a maximum of two terms in their respective positions, says Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
"They also shall not hold any other portfolio in government," he said in his speech when tabling the government's mid-term review of the 11th Malaysia Plan in the Dewan Rakyat, here, today.
The government will also revive the Parliamentary Services Act 1963 (PSA) as part of its 11th Malaysia Plan which is geared towards focusing on good governance and institutional reforms.
Mahathir said measures will be implemented to institutionalise the select committee system in the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara.
"The select committees will be empowered to appoint key positions in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Election Commission (EC), National Audit Department and the Judicial Appointments Commission," he said.
He added that the MACC and the EC will solely be answerable to Parliament.
The mid-term review of the 11MP is the blueprint of the national economy that determines the country's direction between 2016 and 2020.
Mahathir said despite the country's positive economic growth over the past few years, only a portion of its benefits were enjoyed by working class Malaysians.
The Prime Minister said it was business owners who benefitted the most from Malaysia's growth, enjoying about two-thirds of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
"Our growth, in general, is being accepted as among the best in the region. However, over the past decade, most of the country's growth benefits were only enjoyed by equity holders and only a small portion, or one-third of our GDP, is enjoyed by the workers," he said.
Mahathir said in addition, there was also a clear income gap between skilled workers, who are earning very good pay, compared to those less-skilled workers, who earn a fraction of it.
Mahathir also said Malaysia would have fared worse, in terms of its figures in the economic performance front between 2016 and 2017, had they taken into account "off budget allocations".
"If government debts, spending, and the missing billions were taken into account, then our financial position would not have been as good as the figures that were given to us," he said.
Earlier in his speech, Mahathir had said in the first two years of the 11th Malaysian Plan, the country's GDP recorded a growth of 5.1% annually.
He added that Malaysia's gross income also increased at a rate of 6.7% from RM36,119 per annum in 2015 to RM41,093 in 2017.