Assistant minister in the chief minister’s department Abidin Madingkir said the state government intended to table the bill at the next assembly meeting if its members expressed support for the proposal.

“If the elected representatives agree to this, we will raise the matter at the next meeting to amend the state constitution (to limit the chief minister’s term),” he said in the assembly today.

Replying to the initial question by Kadamaian representative Ewon Benedick, Abidin said the state believed this was a good proposal.

This was because the federal government was planning a similar bill to limit the prime minister’s term to 10 years, he said.

“If we look at countries like the US and others, they have also limited the terms of their presidents or prime ministers,” he said.

To a supplementary question by Usukan assemblyman Salleh Said Keruak, Abidin said the legality issues would be ironed out if the state assembly agreed to the amendment.