Malaysia’s Unity Government’s 10-Year Term Limit Terminated: What Next?

The much-awaited constitutional amendment, advocated by Malaysia’s Unity Government to impose a 10-year term limit on the prime minister’s (PM) tenure, has failed. Requiring a two-thirds majority in parliament to amend the Constitution, the measure fell short by a mere two votes: 146 MPs voted for it, 44 abstained, 32 were absent and none opposed it.

This is a serious setback for the Unity Government, and Pakatan Harapan (PH) in particular. Aware of flagging support among its multi-ethnic urban voter base, PH is seeking to regain momentum. With an eye on the looming state elections in Melaka and Johor and the next general election (GE) beyond that, the PM announced in his New Year’s address that the Unity Government would focus on key governance reforms. These include a term limit on prime ministerial tenures; the separation of the positions of attorney general and public prosecutor; the establishment of an Ombudsman’s office to handle complaints against public organisations; and the introduction of a freedom of information law.

The term limit was the first reform to be tabled and discussed in parliament. PH and its associated member parties have long sought this reform over the past three decades, most notably in the run-up to the 2018 GE. PH drafted a parliamentary bill on this following its victory, but progress was stymied by the 2020 Sheraton move.

The rationale for this measure is sound, given that, under Malaysia’s Westminster parliamentary system, there is no limit on prime ministerial tenures. Furthermore, PM Anwar has been personally receptive to the idea of a term limit. This is largely for reasons of age, given that he is 78 and has clocked in only three years in the top job. A side benefit is that this is a nice way of upstaging his nemesis Mahathir Mohamad, who logged a cumulative 24 years in office. Malaysia’s senior politician has been criticised for centralising too much power in the executive office at the expense of checks and balances on other branches of government.

The reform, as tabled in parliament, envisaged a cumulative cap of 10 years for an individual serving as PM. This time limit would accrue, regardless of whether the person serves as PM in consecutive or intermittent periods. Upon the limit being reached, Cabinet would dissolve whilst the King chooses a new PM. However, a GE need not be called until the existing five-year limit between polls is reached, and – crucially for Anwar’s reputation – the proposed measure is retroactive, meaning that he would be subject to the same maximum (if the measure were passed).

At one level, the current setback is understandable. Constitutional amendments are, by design, hard to engineer. Given the profusion of political parties, mustering a two-thirds majority is a hard task in today’s Malaysia. Back in Barisan Nasional’s (BN) heyday, the Constitution was regularly amended, as BN’s dominance in parliament made mustering the votes relatively easy. However, the number of amendments has declined since 2008, after BN lost its two-thirds majority.

This also highlights that while the Unity Government has, in theory, 153 MPs supporting it, it is internally fissured. Furthermore, while the Anti-Party Hopping Law stops individual MPs from leaving a party or coalition, it does not prevent them from voting against a specific policy, and, within the overall Unity Government bloc of MPs, there are a handful with little to lose.

Looking ahead, however, progress on the announced reforms will be fraught.

While all the PH MPs voted for the measure, its partner coalition BN had several absentees, as did several smaller East Malaysian parties. The MP for Sembrong, Hishammuddin Hussein, is suspended from UMNO. While the MP for the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), M. Saravanan, is technically part of BN, his party has chafed at its political marginalisation. Similarly, those from East Malaysia have an uneasy relationship with the Unity Government and little to lose.

The Unity Government has stated that it will re-table the motion for the mid-year parliamentary session. This gives it time to canvass for support and potentially address issues from disgruntled MPs.

Looking ahead, however, progress on the announced reforms will be fraught. The Unity Government has just made a strategic retreat on another signature deliverable, the separation of the attorney general’s and public prosecutor’s offices.

As with the term limit, the rationale is sound: separating the responsibility for providing legal advice to the nation from that of pursuing criminal cases can increase both offices’ impartiality.

However, this will be challenging, as Anwar does not have full support from his own party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). A faction of 10 MPs affiliated with former PKR Deputy President Rafizi Ramli is pushing to limit the PM’s influence over the public prosecutor by establishing parliamentary oversight. The argument is that splitting the two positions while retaining the influence of the PM over both offices would achieve little. PKR members have threatened to oppose this measure unless their concerns are substantially addressed. In response, the Unity Government has delayed this measure until the next parliamentary sitting. 

Where to from here? Given the difficulty of engineering a two-thirds majority, the Unity Government may be best served by addressing other long-standing reform pledges that do not require a constitutional amendment. There are many, including PM Anwar simply relinquishing the finance portfolio, passing a Political Financing Act or requiring the appointment of key positions, such as the head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, to be vetted by a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee.

If it wants to reap electoral dividends from a reform agenda, the government needs to move with alacrity. Pakatan Harapan 1.0 was faulted for assuming they would be in power for a full term. If more low-hanging fruit are not harvested in the coming months, voters may feel that the Unity Government assumes it has all the time in the world and simply stay home on election day.

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