CYBERJAYA: The Constitutional (Amendment) Bill 2026 to limit the prime minister’s tenure to 10 years is not dead, says Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil, who hopes party whips will question why their MPs were absent during voting on the Bill on Monday.
In yesterday’s vote, 146 MPs, including all PKR and DAP representatives, voted in favour of the amendment. However, it fell short of the 148 votes required for a two-thirds majority. Thirty-two MPs were absent, while 44 abstained.
The eight prominent backbenchers absent were Umno MP Hishammuddin Hussein (Sembrong), Malaysian Indian Congress deputy president M. Saravanan (Tapah), former Sabah deputy chief minister Jeffrey Kitingan (Keningau) of Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku, Larry Sng (Julau, Parti Bangsa Malaysia), Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal (Bukit Gantang, independent), Henry Sum Agong (Lawas, Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu), Suhaimi Nasir (Libaran, Umno), and Riduan Rubin (Tenom, independent).
“The opposition was against the Bill, which I take as them wanting PMX (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) to continue for more than 10 years. I thank them for their confidence,” Fahmi joked.
Turning serious, he added: “Let me be clear, those who were absent from Parliament and those who abstained from voting must answer to their constituents why they did not want this amendment.
“On the bright side, we now have more time to speak to Members of the House and try to pass the Bill either in June or October. The Bill is not dead.”
Fahmi said Deputy Prime Ministers Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof were visibly disappointed.
“Those who were absent would need to answer to their respective party whips why they were not in Parliament yesterday,” he said.
He revealed that Suhaimi was unable to attend Parliament as he was hospitalised while Saravanan had informed he had a prayer session to attend.
“Some offered extraordinary excuses, including being stuck in traffic. An MP’s job is to attend Parliament. There is no excuse not to be there if they are not ill.”
Anwar, who tabled the Bill for its second reading, said the amendments would strengthen institutional reforms and ensure leadership renewal.
Separately, Fahmi urged the public to contact the National Scam Response Centre (NSRC) emergency hotline – 997 – immediately if they believe they have been scammed.
“I hope the media can highlight the telephone number 997. This is very important. The quicker a victim reports a scam, the quicker we can act.”
Fahmi said this after Anwar officiated the launch of the National Scam Response Centre in Cyberjaya this afternoon.
Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, who was present, said the centre, which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, received 35,322 calls in January.
“This compares with 146,147 complaint calls throughout 2025, which resulted in 138 account-freezing actions and prevented RM34.53 million from falling into the hands of scam syndicates,” he said.
“The first one to two hours are crucial. The longer the victim waits, the harder it becomes to stop the money from being layered and moved.”