Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi (born
November 26,
1939) is the current
prime minister of Malaysia, succeeding Tun Dr.
Mahathir bin Mohamad. He is also informally known as
Pak Lah. Abdullah is also the President of the
United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest
political party in Malaysia, and leads the governing
Barisan Nasional Parliamentary coalition.
Originally politically exiled after clashing with Mahathir in an internal UMNO dispute during the 1980s, Abdullah was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister by Mahathir after the sacking of
Anwar Ibrahim. In 2003, Abdullah succeeded Mahathir as Prime Minister. Abdullah's administration has been characterised by controversies concerning the independence of
Parliament and the reduction of fuel
subsidies. Although Abdullah initially pledged to eradicate
political corruption, which some critics felt had plagued Mahathir's premiership, it has been argued that after Abdullah's victory in the 2004 general election, progress in fighting corruption and
cronyism was significantly eroded.
In 2005, Mahathir began challenging Abdullah on a number of issues, such as the protection of
Proton, the flagship national car manufacturer, and the distribution of
approved permits for importing foreign-manufactured vehicles. Later in 2006, Mahathir asserted that Abdullah had betrayed his trust, citing the projects and policies which Mahathir introduced but Abdullah scrapped, such as the construction of a bridge linking Malaysia and
Singapore which would replace the existing causeway.
Abdullah was born to a prominent religious family in Kepala Batas,
Penang. He received a
Bachelor of Arts in
Islamic Studies from the
University of Malaya in 1964, having originally wished to pursue a degree in
Economics but failing to meet the required standard after failing his
statistics paper. After graduation, he joined the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Corps (the formal term for the civil service). Before that, he was a Bukit Mertajam High School student. He served as Director of Youth at the Ministry of Youth and Sport as well as secretary of the National Emergency Council (MAGERAN). He resigned in 1978 to become the member of parliament for his constituency of
Kepala Batas in northern
Seberang Perai (which had also been represented by his late father), which he still represents today.
Early during Mahathir's tenure as prime minister, a bitter dispute erupted within the ruling
UMNO party and the two camps were colloquially known as 'Team A' which was comprised of Mahathir loyalists, and 'Team B', which supported former Minister of Finance
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Kuning. Mahathir prevailed, leading to the exclusion of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from the newly-established UMNO (Baru) or New UMNO. Abdullah was a close supporter of his political mentor Musa Hitam in Team B and as a result, he was sacked from his post of Minister of Defence in the cabinet.
He was rehabilitated in 1993 after winning the UMNO Vice Presidency and was given the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prior to 1998, he had also served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs. His rehabilitation was completed when he was appointed deputy prime minister and Minister for Home Affairs following the dismissal of
Anwar Ibrahim. As Minister of Home Affairs, Abdullah used his powers to rescind the ban on the
Iban language Bible.
Since coming into power as prime minister, Abdullah has promised to clamp down on
corruption, giving more power to anti-corruption agencies and making it easier for the public to reveal corrupt practices to the authorities. He has also arrested several public figures from the Mahathir era on charges of corruption, a move which was widely applauded by the public. He has advocated an interpretation of Islam known as
Islam Hadhari, which maintains that Islam and economic and technological development are not incompatible. Apart from that, his administration has been emphasizing a revival of the Malaysian agricultural sector.
In the eleventh
2004 general election, Abdullah's first election as the incumbent prime minister, he delivered a stunning victory for his party's coalition
Barisan Nasional (of which UMNO is the dominant party) by winning 198 out of 220 seats in parliament, and wrested control of the
Terengganu state government back from the Islamist opposition
Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), as well as coming close to capturing the traditional PAS stronghold of
Kelantan. The victory was widely regarded as an approval of his vision of moderate Islam over religious fundamentalism, and support for his anti-corruption policies.
In September 2004, upon his release from prison,
Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister jailed since 1999 by former Prime Minister
Mahathir bin Mohamad, publicly credited Abdullah for not interfering with the judiciary's overturning of his sodomy conviction.
On
September 10,
2004, Abdullah, as finance minister, tabled his maiden budget, which is seen by the public as being more consolidation and maintenance-oriented as opposed to the growth policies emphasised by Mahathir.
Abdullah is also known for stressing on Malaysia's internal security, after witnessing an increase in corruptive practices, such as bribery in the police force.
Abdullah is unofficially known in Malay circles in Malaysia as
Pak Lah (Malay diminutive for "Uncle Abdullah"). The Malaysian government has issued a statement that the prime minister should not be referred to by this nickname in official articles and in newsprint; however, the nickname is still used informally. In fact, Abdullah himself often uses the nickname to refer to himself in public gatherings.
Abdullah is also the chairman of the
Non-Aligned Movement and the
Organization of Islamic Conference, and has held both positions since he became prime minister. As of 2005, he is also the chairman of
ASEAN.
On
October 20 2005, Abdullah's wife, Endon Mahmood, died after a long battle with breast cancer. She passed away at 7.55am. Endon discovered she had breast cancer in 2003 while her twin sister Noraini who had earlier been diagnosed with the disease died in January 2003. She received treatment in the United States and returned to Malaysia 18 days before her death. She is buried at the Muslim cemetery, at
Taman Selatan, Precinct 20,
Putrajaya.
After moves to charge prominent figures such as
Eric Chia and
Isa Abdul Samad with corruption, Abdullah's administration's efforts to combat corruption became significantly less public. It is disputed as to whether Abdullah is continuing to fight corruption quietly, or has intentionally slowed progress in reducing corruption.
In 2005, it was alleged that under Abdullah's administration, there had been a significant increase in cases of
cronyism regarding the distribution of import permits for foreign-manufactured vehicles. Mahathir, Abdullah's predecessor, called for an investigation of the issue. Later, Mahathir criticised Abdullah for cancelling a number of development projects that Mahathir had backed, such as the construction of a bridge to replace the causeway linking Malaysia and
Singapore.
[Wong, Chun Wai (June 9, 2006). The velvet gloves come off. Malaysia Today.] Mahathir also alleged that Abdullah had originally offered to permit the Singaporean Air Force to fly over Malaysian territory and sell sand to Singapore in exchange for an agreement on constructing the bridge. Mahathir construed this as an instance of "selling" Malaysian sovereignty.
In 2006, Mahathir stepped up his criticism of Abdullah, alleging that
freedom of the press under Abdullah had actually decreased, with the media allegedly refusing to publish Mahathir's comments. He also accused Abdullah of reneging on promises he made to Mahathir related to government policies, and in his strongest criticism thus far, said in June 2006 that Abdullah had betrayed his trust. Mahathir expressed regret in selecting Abdullah as his successor, and said that he had originally intended for Abdullah's deputy —
Najib Tun Razak — to succeed him. Najib, who was on a state visit to
India at the time, immediately expressed unreserved support for Abdullah.
[Ahmad, Reme (June 9, 2006). What Mahathir is so mad about. Malaysia Today.][Tan, Joceline (June 9, 2006). Has Dr M gone too far this time? Malaysia Today.]*
Official Website*
Profile from Official Website*
Profile: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi*
The loyal Abdullah wins his rival Anwar's job
