PUTRAJAYA, March 5 — Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil today said the constitutional amendment to limit the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years will be retabled in the next parliamentary session in June.
He said this comes after the Cabinet conducted a review on the Bill.
“The government aims to ensure that all government MPs attend and vote in support to pass this crucial constitutional amendment,” he told reporters at the ministry’s weekly press conference here today.
He said the Cabinet was also briefed by the government chief whip Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof on the status of eight government-supporting MPs who missed the vote.
He added that it was confirmed all Pakatan Harapan MPs were present, and the identities of the absent government MPs had been verified.
The Dewan Rakyat on Monday failed to pass the Constitutional (Amendment) Bill after it secured 146 votes — two short of the 148 needed for a two-thirds majority.
Fahmi said that some MPs may have misunderstood the vote, with one minister reporting that certain MPs believed it was intended to grant Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim a 10-year term as prime minister.
He said this misunderstanding has since been clarified to the Cabinet.
“The government is also unsure how the opposition could have misunderstood this issue, as all MPs should understand that the effort is to prevent a prime minister from having unlimited power due to an indefinite tenure.
“We hope that in the upcoming session, the opposition will work alongside the government to ensure that this non-partisan constitutional amendment, which benefits the country’s democracy, can be passed jointly,” he added.
