Opposition leader Hamzah Zainudin (PN-Larut) said the posts of prime minister and finance minister were the two most powerful positions in the country, and that allowing the concentration of such power in one individual was “very unhealthy”.

The Bersatu deputy president said Malaysians did not only want a prime minister who is clean but also one who is seen to be free of corruption.

“Therefore, the prime minister should not concurrently hold the finance minister’s post. If the prime minister holds any other portfolio, that’s fine, but not the finance portfolio.

“A lot of authority is already bestowed on the finance minister, it’ll be even more so if he is also the prime minister,” he said in debating the king’s speech in the Dewan Rakyat.

Hamzah, a Perikatan Nasional deputy chairman, believed that barring the prime minister from holding the finance portfolio was far more critical than setting a term limit for the top post.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is also the finance minister.

A 10-year or two-term limit on the post of prime minister is among key reforms that the unity government is seeking to enact this year.

It was among the reforms pledged by Pakatan Harapan in its manifesto for the 2022 general election.