Kuala Lumpur: The Dewan Rakyat Monday failed to pass a constitutional amendment to limit the prime minister’s tenure to a maximum of 10 years after the bill fell short of the required two-thirds majority.
In the bloc vote, 146 MPs supported the bill, 44 abstained and 32 were absent.
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The bill needed at least 148 votes to meet the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendments.
The results of the vote were announced by Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul.
In a Facebook post following the vote, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Alice Lau said eight MPs from the government bloc were absent.
“All MPs from Pakatan Harapan were present and backed the bill.”
Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said tabled the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 on Feb 23, proposing a lifetime cap on the premiership, with time served counted, whether continuous or across separate terms.
The proposed amendment also stipulated that once the limit is reached, the prime minister and the Cabinet must step down but may continue in a caretaker role until a new prime minister is appointed.
During the debate, MPs from both sides supported the idea of term limits, although several raised concerns about how the limit would be calculated and how the transition would take place when a prime minister reaches the cap.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had previously said the proposed limit would apply to him first, while Azalina said former prime ministers who have already served more than 10 years would be barred from being reappointed if the bill becomes law.
According to a Pakatan Harapan source, the two were Sembrong MP Hishammuddin Hussein and Tapah MP M Saravanan.
Hishammuddin is a former home minister, while Saravanan is a former human resources minister.
The other six were Larry Sng (Julau), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang), Henry Sum Agong (Lawas), Suhaimi Nasir (Libaran), Riduan Rubin (Tenom) and former Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau).
A constitutional amendment to limit the prime minister’s tenure to a maximum of 10 years after the vote fell short of the required two-thirds majority.
In the bloc vote, 146 MPs supported the bill, 44 abstained and 32 were absent. It needed at least 148 votes to meet the two-thirds majority required for constitutional amendment.
In a Facebook post following the vote, Dewan Rakyat deputy speaker Alice Lau said eight MPs from the government bloc were absent.
“All the MPs from Pakatan Harapan were present and backed the bill,” she said.
DAP sec-gen and Seremban MP Loke Siew Fook also said all 40 MPs from his party were present to support the bill.
Loke, who is also Transport Minister, said the party worked hard to realise its agenda of institutional reform.
“Civil society members and voters who want to see institutional reform should condemn and question the MPs who were absent or did not support this amendment, including those in the opposition bloc,” he said in a Facebook post.
PKR MP Wong Chen also described the failure as a “major blow to the Madani government”, noting that all PKR MPs had attended and voted in favour of the amendment.
“We need to find out how many Madani government MPs failed to attend,” he said.
Sim Tze Tzin (PKR–Bayan Baru) described the failed vote as a missed historic opportunity.
“Malaysia missed an opportunity to make our country more democratic,” he said, noting that it required political will for a sitting Prime Minister to back reforms limiting his own tenure.
“PMX has done his best. However, we are short of two votes. Disappointed,” he added.
Pasir Mas MP Ahmad Fadhli Shaari said this was the first time a Bill under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s government had failed.
