MPs slam poor coordination after bill to limit PM’s tenure fails

2026-03-05 - 23:04

A headcount, if conducted, would have allowed the government to propose deferring the vote to limit the prime minister’s term of office, according to Subang MP Wong Chen. PETALING JAYA: The government should have ensured that enough MPs were present before calling for a vote on the bill to cap the prime minister’s tenure at 10 years, said Subang MP Wong Chen. The PKR lawmaker criticised the administration for failing to properly track attendance ahead of the crucial vote, which ultimately fell short of the two-thirds majority required for passage. “If they had done so, they would have known there were insufficient MPs and could have immediately proposed deferring the vote to the following day,” he told FMT. Julau MP Larry Sng, president of Parti Bangsa Malaysia, told FMT that government backbenchers should have coordinated better to ensure every government MP was present to cast their vote. Sng, one of eight absent government MPs, previously explained that he was unable to return to Parliament in time because he was stuck in traffic. Earlier, Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president Raymon Ram urged Parliament to make public the daily attendance record of all MPs, clearly stating whether each absence was with or without leave. He also called on Parliament to require MPs to provide written reasons for their absence during key votes, which should also be made public. Wong said it was reasonable to require absent MPs to explain their absence. Sng, likewise, said he had no objection to making MPs’ attendance and voting records public. “As far as I am concerned, I have one of the best attendance records in Parliament over the years and have voted on every constitutional amendment bill except the last one,” said Sng. However, opposition MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal took a different view, saying there was no reason for the attendance record of MPs to be made public, as proposed by TI-M. “We already have chief whips who deal with attendance issues,” the Machang MP said, adding that the Dewan Rakyat speaker was also aware of the matter. On Monday, the Dewan Rakyat failed to pass a constitutional amendment to limit the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years. The bill fell two votes short of the 148 required for a two-thirds majority. Forty-four MPs abstained while 32 were absent, including eight government MPs.