10-year, two-term limit for Malaysia PMs: Anwar announces reforms to win back votes ahead of next GE

[PUTRAJAYA] Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday (Jan 5) announced a series of reforms in an attempt to win back urban votes ahead of the next general election, including a two-term limit for the premiership.

Speaking before ministers and hundreds of civil servants in the federal administrative capital after a Cabinet meeting, Anwar said leaders should implement reforms during their term and not overstay their welcome.

The series of announcements was made amid dwindling support for Anwar’s administration among urban and Chinese voters, and a rejuvenated opposition, as Perikatan Nasional (PN) aim to change its leadership.

“Everybody has their limits. The chief secretary to the government cannot stay for decades. This applies to everyone, including the prime minister,” he said during his 2026 New Year speech at the Prime Minister’s Department.

“The prime minister’s term limit would be no more than 10 years, or two full terms.”

Anwar’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) had pledged a term limit for the prime minister in its manifesto for the 2022 general election, aiming to curb the “damage” caused by Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had stayed in power for 22 years till 2003, before continuing for a second stint of 22 months, from 2018 to 2020 – the longest tenure in Malaysian history.

Under the Malaysian constitution, the prime minister serves as long as he commands the majority support of the lower house of Parliament.

Other measures include separating the offices of the Attorney-General and the Public Prosecutor, the Ombudsman Bill, and the Freedom of Information Bill, which will all be tabled in Parliament in January 2026.

These have been major issues for Anwar’s critics, who previously highlighted his slow pace of reforms.

In the November 2025 Sabah state election, the PH coalition led by Anwar managed to win only a single seat. Its key ally, the Democratic Action Party (DAP), was completely wiped out, compared with the six seats it held in the 2020 state election.

Meanwhile, opposition pact PN is set to be led by Islamist party PAS, after Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia president Muhyiddin Yassin quit as chairman on Dec 30, 2025.

Another RM100 handout for all Malaysians

Besides the reforms, Anwar also announced several moves aimed at addressing the rising cost of living and concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

He announced a new round of one-off cash handout of RM100 (S$32) which will be disbursed to 22 million Malaysians above 18 on Feb 9, ahead of Chinese New Year and Ramadan.

A similar one-off aid amounting to RM150 million was disbursed in August 2025. Anwar said that the funds that was not claimed by Malaysians before the Dec 31, 2025, deadline will now be channelled to programmes such as protection for victims of domestic violence, students with special needs and persons with disabilities, medical support for poor patients, and food banks for underprivileged university students.

He also promised to speed up outstanding tax refunds for the business community, aiming to settle arrears for tax year 2023 in the first quarter of 2026, and for tax year 2024 by the end of 2026.

Anwar said: “This is a legacy issue. In 2025, we settled arrears worth RM22.5 billion across 3.7 million cases for tax year 2022 and earlier...

“It is difficult for small and medium enterprises to have more than RM500,000 tied up, as it affects their cash flow.”

Meanwhile, the implementation of e-invoicing for businesses with an annual sales turnover of between RM1 million and RM5 million has been delayed to January 2027 from the original deadline of January 2026, to address SMEs’ concerns over high preparation costs.

Tax refunds and e-invoicing have been key issues troubling Malaysia’s business community, impacting cash flow.

Anwar also increased the facility upgrade fund for Chinese-language vernacular primary schools to RM80 million, up from the initial budget of RM50 million, and allocated RM50 million for Tamil ones. THE STRAITS TIMES