Malaysian Govt introduces bill to limit terms of Prime Ministers

In a move to try and curb potential abuses of power and limit the power of the prime minister, the Malaysian government has tabled a parliamentary bill that seeks to set the limit at two terms for the premiership. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad whose coalition won a landslide election last May had run with this as a major election pledge.

In a bid to limit abuses of power

During the elections in May, there was a lot of anger surrounding the extremely high living costs in Malaysia and the belief that there exists rampant corruption. In order for the bill to pass it would require the support from two-thirds of the 222 elected members of the parliament. The bill essentially seeks to amend the existing constitution to specify that a person is only allowed a maximum of two terms as prime minister. The former Najib Razak who held power for three terms is faced with dozens of money laundering charges leading to the popular anger over blatant corruption that helped Mahathir win the elections. Najib is primarily accused of receiving $1 Billion in funds from Malaysia Development Berhad that was founded by him. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against him.

This is Mahathir's second stint as prime minister and he holds the record for the longest-serving prime minister. He has served for 22 years, he and party won the elections in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995, and 1999. His latest win in May 2018 means this is his 6th term as prime minister.

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Mahathir bin Mohamad who serves as the current Malaysian Prime Minister was born on July 10, 1925, and as of 2019 was 94 years old. He is the chairman of the Pakatan Harapan coalition and while commenting on his administration tabling the bill that would limit the term of prime ministers said that he was already 94  years old and did not want to be prime minister when he was 100 years old.

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(with inputs from agencies)