Opposition’s sincerity for reforms questioned after PM tenure bill flop

2026-03-03 - 04:43

The Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 sought to limit the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years. PETALING JAYA: The move by opposition MPs to abstain from voting on a bill that would have limited the time spent in the top office underscores their rejection of Anwar Ibrahim’s efforts to prevent a prime minister from clinging to power, an analyst says. Syahruddin Awang Ahmad of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said the initiative should have been seen by Perikatan Nasional as a reform that transcended partisan politics. “Refusing to back (such a bill) calls into question the opposition’s sincerity about pushing for reforms that strengthen democracy,” he told FMT. On Monday, the Dewan Rakyat failed to pass the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 which sought to limit the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years. Syahruddin Awang Ahmad. The bloc vote saw 146 MPs in support of the bill, 44 abstaining and 32 absent. At least 148 votes were needed to meet the two-thirds majority required for a constitutional amendment. Deputy speaker Alice Lau later revealed that eight MPs from the government bloc had been absent. All of Pakatan Harapan’s MPs were present and backed the bill, she said. Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri. Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani Ahmad Sabri of Global Asia Consulting said the MPs who abstained from voting as well as the absentees had displayed a “lack of discipline”. He said some of these MPs had called for reforms in the past but chose to abstain or not to show up when given the opportunity to limit the prime minister’s term.