Anwar Ibrahim has made a call on a new legislation in which the prime minister of Malaysia is only allowed two terms in office.
With the proposal, no prime-minister was to serve more than 10 years. He wishes that the bill be debated and passed during the next sitting of parliament stating that the change should not be postponed.
Talking about the proposal, Anwar said that 10 years would be enough time to allow any leader to conduct the reforms and present the most important national policies. To him a ten-year tenure provides a prime minister with a reasonable opportunity of giving the best to the nation. Then he thinks it is good to allow fresh leadership to emerge and proceed to work.
Why a Time Limit Now?
The concept of restricting a term of a prime minister is not new in world politics but it would be a significant move on behalf of Malaysia. Currently, it is not given a definite number of days within which a prime minister should be in office provided he/she is backed by parliament. The proposal by Anwar is supposed to establish a boundary.
He described leadership renewal to be significant to democracy. In his opinion, he would limit the term to two times to ensure that the power does not remain in the hands of a single person. He added also that in case the majority of the Members of Parliament feel that way, the bill might be expedited at the next session.
Political Responses and Social Concerns
The proposal has attracted the attention of the political scene. Its proponents claim that it demonstrates the desire of Anwar to reform and good governance. They reckon it can be a measure of enhancing the trust of the people and the political competition will be fair in the future by a definite term limit.
Nevertheless, the legislation will still require the majority of the lawmakers to support the bill. The details such as how the limit will be applied and whether this is only going to apply to future leaders will be debated in parliament. Politicians and citizens are likely to monitor these debates keenly.
At the moment, Anwar does not give in. He has indicated that a person, who really wants to serve the country, must consider 10 years enough. Having served two terms, he added, a leader must also be prepared to retire and leave the rest to remain in the service of the country.
With the coming of the next parliament sitting, the question of whether this proposal will be backed by enough parliamentarians or not will be seen. The bill would change the political structure in Malaysia and have a new definition of leadership in the future, should it pass.
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