Malaysia govt stumbles on PM term cap bill

KUALA LUMPUR:

Malaysia’s ruling coalition suffered a setback in its bid to pass legislation restricting the prime minister to a maximum of two terms, after it failed to get a two-thirds majority from lawmakers.

The Southeast Asian nation currently has no cap on how many terms a premier can serve.

Lower house speaker Johari Abdul said 146 MPs backed the highly anticipated bill, leaving it two votes shy of the two-thirds majority of 148 required to amend the constitution. A total of 44 MPs abstained, while another 32 were absent.

Lawmakers across the aisle backed term limits in the debate, but several flagged unresolved issues on calculating the cap and handling the transition once a prime minister reaches it.

Ahead of the vote, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the suggested term limits "are not a denial of leadership opportunities, but rather an effort to ensure that this country continues to be guided by institutions that function and are not tied to any individual."