Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Yang Amat Berhormat Datuk Seri  Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister of Malaysia
In office 31 October 2003 – March 2009
Monarch	Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Mizan Zainal Abidin
Deputy	Najib Tun Razak
Preceded by	Mahathir bin Mohamad
Succeeded by	Najib Tun Razak (from March 2009)
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Kepala Batas
Incumbent
Assumed office  1978
Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office 31 October 2003 – 15 September 2006
Preceded by	Mahathir bin Mohamad
Succeeded by	Fidel Castro
President of the United Malays National Organisation
Incumbent
Assumed office  September 2004
Preceded by	Mahathir bin Mohamad
Born	26 November 1939 (1939-11-26) (age 69) Kepala Batas, Malaya
Political party	Barisan Nasional-United Malays National Organisation
Spouse	Endon Mahmood Ambak (deceased) Jeanne Danker
Religion	Muslim

Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi (born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Prime Minister since 2003. He 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. He is informally known as Pak Lah, 'Pak' meaning 'Uncle' while 'Lah' is taken from his name 'Abdullah'.

After Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad sacked Anwar Ibrahim, he appointed Abdullah as Deputy Prime Minister. Abdullah went on to succeed Mahathir as Prime Minister in 2003.

In the 2004 general election, Abdullah scored a significant victory. In the 2008 general election, the Barisan Nasional won a slim majority of seats, thus Abdullah clung on as Prime Minister. He will step down and hand over the reins to his successor, Najib Tun Razak during UMNO General Assembly in March 2009.^[1]

Early life

Abdullah Badawi was born in Kepala Batas, Penang to a prominent religious family. His father, Ahmad Badawi, was a prominent religious figure and UMNO member. Badawi's paternal grandfather is Syeikh Abdullah Badawi Fahim, who was one of the founding members of Hizbul Muslimin, later known as PAS. Syeikh Abdullah Badawi Fahim was also a famous nationalist and first mufti of Penang after Independence.^[2] His maternal grandfather, Ha Su-chiang (also known as Hassan), was a Chinese Muslim who came from Sanya in Hainan.^[3]

Abdullah Badawi is a former student of Bukit Mertajam High School. After failing to enrol into his first choice course, economics, Badawi opted for a less to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies from the University of Malaya in 1964.

Political career

After graduating from the University of Malaya, he joined the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Corps (the formal term for the civil service). 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 it was divided into two camps, which were colloquially known as 'Team A' comprising Mahathir loyalists, and 'Team B', which supported former Minister of Finance Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam. Mahathir prevailed, leading to the exclusion of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from the newly-established UMNO (Baru) or New UMNO. Abdullah Badawi 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 did not join Semangat 46 (Spirit 46) party which was set up by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Semangat 46 is now defunct.

When UMNO (Baru) was formed in Feb 1988, the then UMNO President and Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad brought Abdullah Badawi into the protem committee of UMNO (Baru) as the Vice President. In 1990, Abdullah Badawi retained his seat as Vice President. During the Cabinet reshuffle in 1991, Mahathir brought Abdullah Badawi Ahmad back into the Cabinet as Foreign Minister. He held this post until November 1999 when Syed Hamid Albar succeeded. Even though Abdullah Badawi lost his Vice Presidency in the 1993 UMNO elections, he remained in the Cabinet and was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prior to 1998, he had also served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Minister of Education, Minister of Defence, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He completed his probation when he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and Minister of Home Affairs following the dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim.

Premiership

First term

Since coming into power as prime minister, Abdullah Badawi has promised to clamp down on corruption, thus empowering corruption agencies and providing more avenues for the public to expose corrupt practices. He has also arrested several public figures from the Mahathir era for corruption, a move which was widely applauded by the public. He has advocated an interpretation of Islam known as Islam Hadhari, which advocates the intercompatibility between Islam and economic and technological development. His administration has also been emphasising a revival of the Malaysian agricultural sector.

In the 2004 general election, Abdullah Badawi's first as prime minister, he delivered a landslide 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 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 as well as support for his anti-corruption policies.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, upon his release from prison in September 2004, publicly credited Abdullah Badawi for not interfering with the court's overturning of his sodomy conviction.

On 10 September 2004, Abdullah Badawi, as Finance Minister, presented his maiden budget that is seen by many as maintenance-oriented as opposed to the growth policies emphasised by Mahathir.

Abdullah Badawi is also known for focusing on Malaysia's internal security after the increase in corruptive practices, such as bribery, in the Law enforcement in Malaysia.Since coming into power as prime minister, Abdullah Badawi has clamped 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 Mahathir-era cronies on charges of corruption, a move which is 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.

Abdullah Badawi is unofficially known 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 Badawi often uses that nickname to refer to himself during public gatherings.

Abdullah Badawi continues to be heavily involved in foreign policy making. He is the chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference since his premiership in 2003. As of 2005, he is the chairman of the ASEAN. He also served as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement from October 2003 until September 2006.

Economic policies

Abdullah Badawi declared an end to the economic legacy and grandiose projects of his predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, during the 57th UMNO General Assembly. He told delegates that he would not pursue the economic strategies adopted two decades ago by Mahathir.

He said that in the past, wealth was generated not by innovation and creativity, but by foreign investment, government contracts, and privatization.

Agriculture and biotechnology are some of the highlighted issues in 9MP that the government believes such sectors are still able to generate wealth for many Malaysians, especially those in rural areas.

In late 2005, Badawi successfully led Malaysia into a historic free trade agreement with Japan enabling the two countries to scrap tariffs on essentially all industrial goods and most agricultural, forestry and fishery products within a decade.^[4]

Under the Abdullah Badawi administration, the country is moving down to a value chain economy by developing its inherent strengths in agriculture without losing its existing manufacturing base.^[5] However, Abdullah has been criticized as to his handling of the sudden hikes in the price of petrol and electricity through the restructuring of government subsidies, especially as it is detrimental to Malaysia's position as a traditional exporter.

50 years of nationhood

On 31 August 2007, Abdullah Badawi shouted 'Merdeka!' meaning 'Independence' during the midnight celebrations of Malaysia's 50 years of nationhood. The celebrations were held at Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur, where thousands of people had congregated. This was a symbolic gesture which emulated the actions of Malaysia's first Prime Minister, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman, when the latter declared independence from the British in 1957.^[6]

Second term

Abdullah Badawi won a second term as Prime Minister by winning the 12th General Election, held in March 2008, with a reduced majority. He also lost four additional states to the opposition (Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor). Although his party, Barisan Nasional, suffered a major setback, Abdullah Badawi vowed to fulfill the promises in his manifesto amid calls from Mahathir, the opposition and even among UMNO members for him to resign. However, his deputy, Najib Razak, and others in his party voiced unreserved support for his leadership.^[7] It took a while before open dissent started brewing at grassroots levels, with petition and campaigns being launched to ask for his resignation.^[8]

He was sworn in for a second term as Prime Minister on 10 March 2008.^[9]Badawi unveiled a streamlined 68-member Cabinet 18 March 2008, dropping half the ministers in his previous administration and keeping the crucial finance portfolio for himself.^[10]

Abdullah is currently facing a political crisis not only from the onslaught of the Opposition who has gained much ground by taking the richest and most important states (Selangor and Penang, which incidentally is the hometown of Abdullah Badawi). He is also facing growing discontent from within his own ranks in the UMNO party. The son of the former premier, Mukhriz Mahathir, has openly called for him to step down. The UMNO Youth chief, Hishammudin has not taken any action against Mukhriz and dismissed it as a personal opinion.

Abdullah is currently under heavy pressure to step down after many within his UMNO party including former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohammad have openly asked him to take full responsibility on the dismal performance during the 12th general election in March 2008. In response to Mahathir's comment, Abdullah Badawi pointed out that when the BN won a landslide victory in 2004, Mahathir then complained that the government was too powerful and needed a stronger opposition voice.

He has initiated two significant changes in the system after the general election by declaring the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) to be fully independent and initiated judicial reform proceedings in the aftermath of the V.K. Lingam Royal Commission of Inquiry.

Regarding the live telecast in Dewan Rakyat (the first time since after the 12th General Election)^[11], Abdullah said he was ashamed at what had transpired in the Dewan Rakyat on 30 April 2008 (Wednesday) and agreed that live telecast of the proceedings should be scrapped. He said what happened was just “too much.”

"I felt ashamed if people watched television and saw what was happening in our Dewan. In my heart, I also felt that all this happened because there was a live broadcast at that time." said the Prime Minister.

There was many ideas from the government MPs and opposition MPs. Some MPs suggested that the live telecast should not be scrapped to let the people know what was really happening in the Dewan Rakyat and judge the MPs in conducting the people's voice in the parliament. Lastly, the live telecast of the proceedings is to be continue to show that there is transparency and to let the people know what the MPs are behaving and debating.

On 19 May 2008, the dispute between Dr Mahathir and Abdullah reached a "shocking" stage when Dr Mahathir, who had served as UMNO President for 22 years, announced that he was quitting the party after having lost confidence in Abdullah Badawi's leadership, and that he would only rejoin the party after Abdullah had stepped down as UMNO President and Prime Minister.

On 15 September 2008, Abdullah's cabinet Minister in Prime Minister Department Senator Datuk Zaid Ibrahim submitted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister. He tendered his resignation as a protest to the government's action in detaining a blogger, a member of parliament and a reporter under the Internal Security Act. Abdullah later accepted his resignation.

Transfer of Power

On 10 July 2008, Abdullah announced he would step down as UMNO President and Prime Minister in June 2010. He announced that he would transfer power to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, a move aimed at reducing the level of political uncertainty in the country.^[12]

On 17 September, 2008 Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said he may hand over power to his deputy before the 2010 deadline he set earlier. On the same day he handed over his finance ministry portfolio to his deputy Najib Razak. The changes were apparently aimed at gradually handing over greater responsibilities to Najib as part of a planned power transfer. ^{[13] [14]} On 8 October 2008, Abdullah Badawi announced that he would step down in March 2009 paving the way for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak to succeed him. However, he said the onus was on Najib to win party elections set for March before he could take over.^[15][16]

Family

On 20 October 2005, Abdullah Badawi's late wife, Endon Mahmood, died of breast cancer. Endon discovered the disease in 2003 while her twin sister Noraini, who had earlier been diagnosed with the same illness, died in January 2003. She received treatment in the United States and returned to Malaysia 18 days before her death. She is buried at a Muslim cemetery, at Taman Selatan, Precinct 20, Putrajaya.

On 6 June 2007, the Prime Minister's office announced Abdullah Badawi's marriage to Jeanne Abdullah. On 9 June, a private ceremony was conducted at the Prime Minister's residence, Seri Perdana and attended by close relatives. Jeanne was formerly married to the younger brother of Abdullah Badawi's late wife. She was also a manager at the Seri Perdana residential complex and has two children from her previous marriage.^[17] However, earlier in March that year, the premier dismissed rumours about his plans to remarry even though the rumours have been circulating more than a year.

Controversies

American president George W. Bush meets with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia during Bush's visit to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly, 18 September 2006.

After moves to charge prominent figures such as Eric Chia and the then Land and Co-operative Development Minister, Kasitah Gaddam, with corruption, Abdullah Badawi's administration's efforts to combat corruption allegedly became less transparent. It was noted by the Economist that little progress has been made on curbing corruption.^[18]

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been criticized for allowing his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, to become unduly influential in UMNO politics. ^[19]

Mongolian Murder Case

In the ongoing trial of the murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu on October 19, 2006 there were implications that link the Prime Minister with interfering with the trial. With his sedition trial due in October 2008, blogger activist Raja Petra Kamaruddin alleged in his statutory declaration in which he said that the Prime Minister had been made aware of a full report by military intelligence on the involvement of his deputy premier’s family. Abdullah gave the intelligence report to his son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin, for safekeeping, according to Raja Petra’s statement. ^[20]

Concerns and disputes by Mahathir Mohamad and UMNO

In 2005, it was alleged that under Abdullah Badawi's administration, there had been a significant increase in cases of cronyism regarding the distribution of import permits for foreign-manufactured vehicles. Then Prime Minister Mahathir had called for an investigation of the issue. Later, Mahathir Mohamad criticized Abdullah for cancelling a number of development projects that the former had started, such as the construction of a bridge to replace the causeway linking Malaysia and Singapore.^[21] Mahathir also alleged that Abdullah Badawi had originally offered to permit the Republic of Singapore 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 against Abdullah Badawi, alleging that freedom of the press under Abdullah Badawi had actually decreased. Mahathir also added that the media refused to publish Mahathir's comments. He had accused Abdullah Badawi 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 Badawi had betrayed his trust. Mahathir expressed regret in picking Abdullah Badawi as his successor and said that he had originally intended for Abdullah Badawi's deputy, Najib Tun Razak, to succeed him. Najib, who was on a state visit to India, immediately expressed unreserved support for Abdullah Badawi.

Mahathir announced his resignation from UMNO on 19th May 2008 before 1,000 Kedah UMNO members in Alor Star and urged other members to follow suit as a way of pressuring Abdullah Badawi to step down. However, he resists to join any other party and would only rejoin UMNO after Abdullah Badawi steps down. His departure raises the possibility of large-scale desertions by loyalists, which could split the party and bring down the government.^[22]

Following the sweeping election victory of Anwar Ibrahim in the by-election in Permatang Pauh on 26 August, 2008, dissidents in Malaysia's ruling party demanded the prime minister's resignation. Veteran government lawmaker Razaleigh Hamzah, who wants to challenge Abdullah for the leadership of the UMNO ruling party, said the results meant that "what scraps of credibility (Abdullah) had left after March 8 are gone." Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has slammed his successor's policies after handing over power in 2003, said he believed many government supporters voted for Anwar so that Abdullah would realize his leadership is no longer wanted. "Abdullah must take responsibility and resign now," Mahathir said. Government supporters vented their fury on Internet forums. Mykmu Net, a popular Web site for ruling party members, published comments by readers who said they hope Abdullah "will be quickly ousted" and that Abdullah's "resignation will be the only way out."^[23][24]

Vote of no confidence to Abdullah Badawi in Parliament

In June 2008, the Sabah Progressive Party, a member of the 14-party ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, said its two legislators in the federal parliament will move or back a motion of no-confidence against Abdullah.

Malaysia has never experienced a serious no-confidence vote before and it is unclear what is the next step if, in the unlikely event, Abdullah loses the vote; whether a snap election is held, or whether the King dissolves parliament, or whether a new leader is given the opportunity to form a new government. No Malaysian Prime Minister has ever faced a vote of no-confidence presented by a member of his own coalition before. The Barisan Nasional has 140 lawmakers in the 222-member Parliament, enough to defeat any vote against Abdullah who is also president of the UMNO.

Nevertheless, the motion was rejected by the Speaker on the basis that there were no grounds for the motion to be put forward.

Urgent motion of "no-confidence" in Prime Minister

On July 2008, Parliamentary Opposition leader Wan Azizah Wan Ismail submitted an urgent motion of "no-confidence" in Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, on behalf of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs.

The motion to the Speaker is under Standing Order Article 18(1) and (2) requesting a debate without the need of voting. She said the narrow victory of Barisan Nasional (BN) in the March 2008 general election, the sudden fuel price hike, the marginalisation of PR-led states and the alleged oppression of BN MPs to voice up, had led to the confidence crisis against the Prime Minister.

"The people's confidence is now fretted because of the worsening situation in the police, attorney-general, judiciary body, the crime rate and corruption."

Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) report

On August 2008, an Umno veteran lodged a complaint against party president Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and deputy president Najib Tun Razak with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for alleged abuse of power. The complainant, former Umno youth exco Mazlan Harun, claimed that both Abdullah and Najib had abused government machineries and given cash and gifts to Umno members in a bid to sustain their position in the party. The complaint was based on an open letter written by Umno Petaling Jaya Selatan division chief Zahar Hashim and addressed to the party's secretary general demanding that both Abdullah and Najib be disciplined for allegedly abusing their power. Zahar called the act as "political corruption of the highest order", and urged the ACA to investigate all those involved in money politics in the Umno elections at all levels. ^{[25] [26]} On 3 September, 2008 Datuk Mazlan Harun lodged a second report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for allegedly practising money politics to win the support of Umno division heads nationwide. He claimed to have physical evidence and witnesses to the allegations. Muar Umno chief Datuk Kadar Shah Tun Sulaiman, who accompanied Datuk Mazlan claimed in relation to the first ACA report, he has photos to prove the allegations and there are several witnesses who are willing to come forward to substantiate what had taken place. ^[27]

References

External links

• Official Website of the Government of Malaysia
• Profile: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
• The loyal Abdullah wins his rival Anwar's job
• thesundaily.com, Full statement from PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Prime Ministers of Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman · Abdul Razak · Hussein Onn · Mahathir Mohamad · Abdullah Badawi · Najib Tun Razak (from March 2009)

Deputy Prime Ministers of Malaysia Abdul Razak · Ismail Abdul Rahman · Hussein Onn · Mahathir Mohamad · Musa Hitam · Ghafar Baba · Anwar Ibrahim · Abdullah Badawi · Najib Tun Razak