COMMENT | We, the undersigned organisations, call upon all 222 members of Dewan Rakyat and 58 members of Dewan Negara to vote for the Constitutional Amendment Bill on Article 43 to introduce a 10-year tenure limit for the prime minister.

We categorically dismiss any misleading claim that the 10-year tenure limit would be unconstitutional on the pretext that it would restrict the choice of Yang di-Pertuan Agong to pick amongst MPs whom he believes have the majority’s support.

The amendment to Article 43 is perfectly constitutional because Article 43 allows other restrictions on the eligibility for the prime minister.

The existing Article 43(7) categorically stipulates that “notwithstanding anything in this Article, a person who is a citizen by naturalisation or by registration under Article 17 shall not be appointed prime minister.”

In the same vein, the insertion of Clauses 2A, 4A, 4B, 4C and AD in Article 43 is perfectly constitutional.

The red herring raised stems from either an innocent misreading of Article 43 or a malicious misinterpretation to block a...