Constitutional amendment to limit Malaysian PM's tenure to one decade
Kuala Lumpur (ANTARA) - Malaysian authorities have stated that any former prime minister who has served a cumulative total of one decade (ten years) will no longer be eligible for reappointment, once a constitutional amendment bill limiting the prime minister’s tenure comes into effect.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department for Law and Institutional Reform, Azalina Othman Said, said in Kuala Lumpur on Monday that the bill currently being tabled in parliament calculates the prime minister’s tenure based on total years in office, rather than by parliamentary term.
“For example, if PMX (10th Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim) wins the 16th General Election and wishes to continue in office, he may do so, because based on tenure calculation, he still has seven remaining years,” Azalina said, as reported by BERNAMA.
Anwar’s administration has been in office for three years, counting from November 2022. Should the prime ministerial tenure amendment be enacted and a Malaysian general election held at present, Anwar would still have seven years of eligibility remaining.
Similarly, former 9th Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who served as Malaysia’s prime minister from August 2021 to October 2022, would still be eligible to serve as prime minister for approximately nine years.
Previously, Azalina, representing the Malaysian government, tabled the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2026 for its first reading in the Malaysian parliament (Dewan Rakyat), which stipulates a maximum ten-year limit on the prime minister’s tenure.
Azalina stated that the amendment fulfils a pledge made in the 15th General Election manifesto and reflects the institutional reform agenda of the MADANI Government led by Anwar Ibrahim — emphasising that no individual should hold the office of prime minister for more than one decade.
The proposed bill limiting the prime minister’s tenure applies exclusively to the office of prime minister and does not extend to the tenures of Chief Ministers or Menteri Besar, who lead Malaysia’s state governments.