CSOS CALL FOR LAWMAKERS TO SUPPORT 10-YEAR PM TENURE LIMIT BILL

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- A coalition of nine civil society organisations (CSOs) has called on all 222 Members of Parliament and 58 Senators to support the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Article 43, which seeks to introduce a 10-year tenure limit for the position of Prime Minister.

The groups dismissed claims that the limit would infringe upon the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s discretionary powers, stating that the amendment is perfectly constitutional as Article 43 already allows for specific restrictions on eligibility for the nation's top office.

"The existing Article 43(7) categorically stipulates that ‘notwithstanding anything in this Article, a person who is a citizen by naturalisation or by registration under Article 17 shall not be appointed Prime Minister,’" the  groups said in a joint statement today.

They also listed four primary benefits to the reform, - forcing generational renewal in leadership, 'disciplining' politics by focusing on long-term policy goals rather than short-term electioneering, reducing the concentration of power and mitigating political instability.

"It would reduce political instability due to all-out political struggles between an incumbent with no retirement date and his/her challengers with no succession timetable," they said.

The groups noted that the 10-year tenure limit for the Prime Minister introduced in Malaysia would be part of a new trend in parliamentary democracies after Botswana (1966), South Africa (1997), Guyana (2000), Belize (2008), Cayman Islands (2009), Thailand (2017) and Bangladesh (2026).

Of these, Belize, Cayman Islands and Thailand are constitutional monarchies.

Meanwhile, the groups urged the government to allow for finetuning of the Bill during the committee stage as it said government’s openness to refinement would remove any need for this bill to be referred to the Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on Human Rights, Elections and Institutional Reforms.

“The first refinement concerns the proposed insertion of Article 43 (4D)(b), which allows a Prime Minister whose time is due to serve as the caretaker prime minister after dissolution of Parliament.

“We agree with the rationale of this clause, but would suggest that leniency end when the Parliament reconvenes after the election. This means even if the parliament cannot agree on a new prime minister, the caretaker prime minister should be replaced with another caretaker,” it said. 

The second refinement concerns a likely situation where a prime minister who wins two consecutive elections cannot serve two full five-year terms because his/her terms would start before the new Parliament reconvenes.

“This creates an unnecessary complication where the time-due prime minister would have to dissolve Parliament early or pass the baton several months before parliament auto dissolves.

“A refinement will make it more compatible when a Fixed Term Parliament Act is introduced in the future, without another constitutional amendment,” the groups said.

The joint statement was issued by Project Stability and Accountability for Malaysia (Projek SAMA), Coalition for Clean and Fair Election (Bersih), Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), Rasuah Busters, Pertubuhan IKRAM Malaysia (IKRAM). 

It also includes the Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Centre), Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), Kuala Lumpur & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH), and the CSO Platform for Reforms.

-- BERNAMA