Lee Hwok Aun, a senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Malaysia Studies Programme in Singapore, said Zaid appeared to be advocating for prolonged authoritarian rule.
“Is he saying that we should keep the door open for a 20-year prime ministership in case a charismatic figure comes along who can take Malaysia to new heights of perceived glory, and will quashing dissent and destroying political opposition be the acceptable price to pay?
“These are quite dangerous arguments, especially at this time when much of the world is lurching towards strongman, autocratic rule,” he told FMT.
On Monday, Zaid called the proposed two-term limit for the prime minister’s post “useless”, arguing that unlike South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines, which saw long years of military rule, Malaysia does not need a similar restriction.
The former Kota Bharu MP also cited Singapore, China and Russia as examples, arguing that without long-term leaders like Lee Kuan Yew, Deng Xiaoping, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, these nations would not have achieved their current success.
“Many countries already struggle to find great leaders. A few are fortunate to have such leaders, and if we one day found them, wouldn’t we want them to rule for a while to set the country straight?” he said in a post on X.
Lee said it was ludicrous of Zaid to be giving examples of one-party autocracies in Russia and China for making his case against limiting the prime minister’s tenure in office.
He said that theoretically, a prime minister who continues to command the support of the majority of MPs can remain in office without limit.
“(But) there is no guarantee that this PM will sustain support based on being a dynamic, competent, and unifying leader,” he said.
He said that in today’s multiparty, coalition-based political landscape, lacklustre leadership would struggle to endure, though the ability and willingness to compromise may outweigh the courage to reform.
“At the very least, it has become unlikely for a Malaysian prime minister to retain power by suppressing democracy, as occurred at times in the 1980s and 1990s,” he said, alluding to former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Projek Sama founding member Thomas Fann said Mahathir’s 22 years leading the government had weakened the country’s judicial and parliamentary independence by concentrating power under the executive branch, particularly the office of the prime minister.
“Free speech and media independence also took a hit while draconian laws like the Internal Security Act were used against political opponents and activists,” he said, adding that Malaysia has yet to recover from such “democratic regressions”.
He also claimed that the entrenchment of power in the prime minister’s hand led to cronyism, systemic corruption and, eventually, kleptocracy under Najib Razak.
Part of a package
Fann said limiting the term of the prime minister is just one of many reforms needed to ensure that there are institutional limits as well as checks and balances to the government.
“We have to learn from our recent history that unchecked power can lead to authoritarianism and corruption that almost destroyed our country,” he said.
Lee also stressed that instituting a term limit for the top post must go hand-in-hand with other reforms such as a fixed parliamentary term and an independent Election Commission.
“Without mandated full terms and fixed general election dates determined by an independent Election Commission, prime ministers would be vulnerable to sabotage by the opposition via en bloc crossovers, or might resort to desperate or corrupt measures to cling to power,” he said. - FMT
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