PARLIAMENT | The Dewan Rakyat failed to pass the constitutional amendment bill to limit the prime minister’s term to 10 years at its second reading via a bloc vote.
Speaker Johari Abdul said 146 MPs voted in support of the bill, falling just two votes short of the two-thirds majority (148) required to amend the Constitution.
A total of 32 MPs were absent while another 44 did not vote, he said.
The identities of the government MPs who did not vote will only be known when the Hansard is published. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is supposed to have the support of 153 MPs.
Both PKR and DAP have declared full attendance and the support of their party’s MPs, while parliamentary opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin previously said Perikatan Nasional MPs will abstain.
Earlier, 41 MPs debated on the constitutional amendment in the Dewan Rakyat.
During the debate, Hamzah (Independent-Larut) argued that imposing term limits on the prime minister would erode the powers of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
However, while tabling the bill this afternoon, Anwar asserted that the move will not affect the Agong’s powers nor the Dewan Rakyat’s authority to determine confidence in the government.
This was later reinforced by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform), Azalina Othman Said, in her winding-up speech.
“This issue is not about reducing the power of the Agong; it is about streamlining the principle of accountability in the highest executive position without changing the appointment structure.
“The power to appoint (the prime minister) remains with His Majesty, while the (power for) majority support remains with the Dewan Rakyat.
“The term limit only determines that the (prime minister’s) power cannot be held indefinitely,” she said.
Term cap draws objections
Last week, PN chief whip Takiyuddin Hassan said the bill could undermine the power vested in the Agong, as Article 40(2)(a) of the Federal Constitution provides the king with the discretion to appoint a prime minister from among MPs whom he believes has the majority’s support.
“(The Article) does not put any condition about five years or 10 years, so, in our opinion, this bill contradicts the discretionary power of the Agong provided by the constitution,” he said.
During the debates, other opposition MPs criticised the bill as merely “cosmetic”, with Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar) questioning the government’s priorities.
He said Putrajaya should have long introduced a Political Funding Act before a proposal to limit the prime minister’s term, adding that the lack of such a legislation would “enslave” politicians to the wealthy.
Meanwhile, Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Independent-Machang) said the opposition would support the bill if Anwar resigned as the finance minister.
PKR’s Hassan Abdul Karim (Harapan-Pasir Gudang) agreed that a prime minister should not also hold the role of the finance minister.
“If possible, in the new cabinet line-up after the upcoming 16th general election, it would be better to have this convention of separating the positions between the prime minister and the finance minister,” he said.
Strengthening institutional structure
Later, Azalina dismissed these criticisms by saying they strayed from the point, which was on the prime minister’s term limit.
“The issue of holding certain portfolios, including the finance portfolio, is a matter of the administration of the cabinet, which is subject to Article 43(2)(b) and the discretion of appointment within the framework of the Constitution.
“It is not part of the objective of this amendment, which aims to strengthen the institutional structure through clear term limits on the highest executive positions, not through specialisation or segregation of portfolios,” she said.
In March last year, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang criticised the proposal, saying that limiting the prime minister’s term goes against God’s will.
A few days before that, DAP secretary-general Anthony Loke suggested the government implement several promised reforms which have yet to be fulfilled, including limiting a prime minister’s term in office and the separation of judicial powers. - Mkini
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