ASEAN Beat | Politics | Southeast Asia

Malaysian Parliament Votes Down Proposed 10-Year Prime Ministerial Term Limit

The Bill was a part of a package of reforms that Anwar announced in January, in response to growing discontent within the ranks of his unity government.

An aerial view of the Malaysian Parliament Complex in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Malaysia’s parliament has narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment that would institute a two-term limit for prime ministers, a key part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s reform agenda.

According to a report by the state news agency Bernama, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 fell two votes shy of the two-thirds majority of 148 votes required.

House Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said that 146 members of parliament voted in favor of the Bill, while 32 were absent and 44 abstained, Bernama reported. Interestingly, there were no votes against the proposed change.

Malaysia currently does not have term limits. The country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, led the country for about 13 years, from 1957 to 1970, while Mahathir Mohamad served a combined 24 years from 1981 to 2003 and 2018 to 2020.

In tabling the Bill for its second reading, Anwar argued that the introduction of a 10-year limit on serving prime ministers was “a preventive measure to curb wrongdoing by reducing the risk of prolonged concentration of power and the possibility of corruption or abuse of trust,” Bernama paraphrased him as saying.

Whether or not this is true, the proposed amendment was part of a package of reforms that Anwar announced in January as priorities for his government in 2026. This also included pledges to separate the powers of the attorney-general and public prosecutor, establish an ombudsman’s office, and introduce a freedom of information law.

The promises were a response to growing criticisms that Anwar’s government has failed to implement the reforms that it pledged before taking office in late 2022. In December, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), an important part of Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition, threatened late last year to “reconsider” its position in the government if Anwar failed to deliver meaningful reforms within the next six months. This came shortly after the DAP suffered a significant defeat in the Sabah state election on November 29, losing all eight seats that it contested, including six that it previously held.

The DAP’s move was a “calculated risk to put pressure on Prime Minister Anwar to fulfil one of the promises in the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto in 2018,” former DAP Member of Parliament Ong Kian Ming told Channel News Asia at the time. There have also been complaints that Anwar’s administration has gone soft on corruption, after the dropping of charges in a number of important cases, including one involving Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, an important member of Anwar’s ruling coalition.

Aside from naked partisanship, the opposition to the term-limit Bill appeared to be rooted in fears that the amendment could undermine the authority of the king, who has the constitutional power to appoint a prime minister.

Speaking before the vote, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said downplayed this, echoing Anwar’s earlier claim that the term limit would bolster institutional integrity by preventing indefinite concentration of power at the executive level.

In a post on Facebook following the vote, DAP Secretary-General Anthony Loke, the current minister of transport, expressed his disappointment about the outcome, particularly for the MPs who were absent from the vote.

“Civil society and voters who want to see institutional reforms in the country should denounce and question members of parliament who were absent and did not support this amendment, including the opposition bloc,” he wrote, according to Bloomberg.

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Malaysia’s parliament has narrowly rejected a constitutional amendment that would institute a two-term limit for prime ministers, a key part of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s reform agenda.

According to a report by the state news agency Bernama, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2026 fell two votes shy of the two-thirds majority of 148 votes required.

House Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul said that 146 members of parliament voted in favor of the Bill, while 32 were absent and 44 abstained, Bernama reported. Interestingly, there were no votes against the proposed change.

Malaysia currently does not have term limits. The country’s first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, led the country for about 13 years, from 1957 to 1970, while Mahathir Mohamad served a combined 24 years from 1981 to 2003 and 2018 to 2020.

In tabling the Bill for its second reading, Anwar argued that the introduction of a 10-year limit on serving prime ministers was “a preventive measure to curb wrongdoing by reducing the risk of prolonged concentration of power and the possibility of corruption or abuse of trust,” Bernama paraphrased him as saying.

Whether or not this is true, the proposed amendment was part of a package of reforms that Anwar announced in January as priorities for his government in 2026. This also included pledges to separate the powers of the attorney-general and public prosecutor, establish an ombudsman’s office, and introduce a freedom of information law.

The promises were a response to growing criticisms that Anwar’s government has failed to implement the reforms that it pledged before taking office in late 2022. In December, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), an important part of Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan coalition, threatened late last year to “reconsider” its position in the government if Anwar failed to deliver meaningful reforms within the next six months. This came shortly after the DAP suffered a significant defeat in the Sabah state election on November 29, losing all eight seats that it contested, including six that it previously held.

The DAP’s move was a “calculated risk to put pressure on Prime Minister Anwar to fulfil one of the promises in the Pakatan Harapan Manifesto in 2018,” former DAP Member of Parliament Ong Kian Ming told Channel News Asia at the time. There have also been complaints that Anwar’s administration has gone soft on corruption, after the dropping of charges in a number of important cases, including one involving Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, an important member of Anwar’s ruling coalition.

Aside from naked partisanship, the opposition to the term-limit Bill appeared to be rooted in fears that the amendment could undermine the authority of the king, who has the constitutional power to appoint a prime minister.

Speaking before the vote, Law Minister Azalina Othman Said downplayed this, echoing Anwar’s earlier claim that the term limit would bolster institutional integrity by preventing indefinite concentration of power at the executive level.

In a post on Facebook following the vote, DAP Secretary-General Anthony Loke, the current minister of transport, expressed his disappointment about the outcome, particularly for the MPs who were absent from the vote.

“Civil society and voters who want to see institutional reforms in the country should denounce and question members of parliament who were absent and did not support this amendment, including the opposition bloc,” he wrote, according to Bloomberg.

Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. 

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