PM TERM LIMIT AMENDMENT FALLS SHORT OF SECURING TWO-THIRDS MAJORITY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Bernama) -- The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 to limit the Prime Minister’s term of office to 10 years fell short by two votes to secure the required two-thirds majority in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said the results of the block vote showed 146 members of parliament in favour, 32 absent and 44 who abstained. 

“Therefore, the decision is that the motion did not receive a two-thirds majority support,” he said before adjourning the sitting, which will resume tomorrow.

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The constitutional amendment required the support of at least two-thirds of the House, or 148 Members of Parliament, to be passed.

Earlier, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in tabling the Bill for its second reading, said the introduction of a term limit could be seen as a preventive measure to curb wrongdoing by reducing the risk of prolonged concentration of power and the possibility of corruption or abuse of trust.

The Bill was subsequently debated by 41 MPs from both the government and the opposition.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, in winding up the debate, said the proposed amendment constituted a progressive institutional reform.

“The amendment would not alter the basic structure of Article 43 of the Federal Constitution nor affect the discretionary powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong in appointing the Prime Minister based on the confidence of the Dewan Rakyat,” she said.

During the session, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu) interjected on the need to obtain the consent of the Conference of Rulers for the amendment, arguing that it touched on the privileges and prerogatives of the King under Article 38(4) of the Federal Constitution.

However, Azalina said the amendment to Article 43 did not fall within the category requiring the consent of the Conference of Rulers, as it did not affect the sovereignty, prerogatives or personal position of the Malay Rulers.

-- BERNAMA