Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia explained

Post:Deputy Prime Minister
Body:Malaysia
Native Name:Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Malay: {{Script|Arab|تيمبلن ڤردان منتري مليسيا
Insignia:Coat of arms of Malaysia.svg
Insigniasize:100
Insigniacaption:Coat of arms of Malaysia
Incumbent:Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Fadillah Yusof
Incumbentsince:3 December 2022
Department:Government of Malaysia
Style:Deputy Prime Minister

Yang Amat Berhormat

The Right Honourable

His Excellency
Reports To:Parliament
Seat:Perdana Putra, Putrajaya
Residence:Sri Satria, Putrajaya
Nominator:Prime Minister
Appointer:Yang di-Pertuan Agong
Termlength:At the Prime Minister's pleasure
Inaugural:Abdul Razak Hussein
Salary:RM18,168.15 monthly[1]

The deputy prime minister of Malaysia (Malay: Timbalan Perdana Menteri Malaysia; Malay: تيمبلن ڤردان منتري مليسيا|label=[[Jawi alphabet|Jawi]]|script=arab|italic=unset) is the second-highest political office in Malaysia. There have been 15 officeholders since the office was created in 1957. The first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, started the convention of appointing a deputy prime minister, but some cabinets have opted not to appoint a deputy prime minister.

Appointment

Malaysia has always had a deputy prime minister for most of the time since independence. A prime minister may choose not to appoint a deputy prime minister. The office of deputy prime minister is not provided for in the constitution of Malaysia. At the same time, a prime minister could appoint more than one deputy prime minister, as has occurred before in Singapore.

From August 1957 to May 2018, when the coalition government Barisan Nasional (BN), of which the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was the main component party, was the only ruling coalition, and by practice, the UMNO deputy president was usually appointed the deputy prime minister by the prime minister, who was the UMNO president. In the organisational structure of BN, the president and deputy president of UMNO were automatically made the chairman and deputy chairman of BN.

From May 2018 to February 2020, when Pakatan Harapan (PH), a political coalition of four parties, was the only ruling coalition, the holder of the position of deputy prime minister was decided upon by the presidential council of PH. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who was the first female holder of office, was the post holder. 

The position has vacant for 16 months since Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as prime minister in March 2020 after Perikatan Nasional (PN) was leading ruling coalition until July 2021 after Ismail Sabri Yaakob was appointed to the position. However, he briefly served for 40 days before taking over as prime minister is the shortest-serving officeholder in history.[2]

Since August 2021, when BN is again the leading ruling coalition, there have again been no holders of the office of the deputy prime minister for 13 months before replacing by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Fadillah Yusof, first duo deputy prime minister in Malaysian history.

Deaths, resignations and removals from office

Of the thirteen previous officeholders, eight have stepped up to become Prime Ministers. Of the remaining, one died in office, two resigned, two were removed from office (both who later became Prime Ministers) by the sitting Prime Minister, and two disqualified from office due to defeat in the 2018 general election and collapse of the federal administration in 2020 political crisis.

Ismail Abdul Rahman died in office due to massive heart attack in 1973.[3] Musa Hitam resigned from second Mahathir cabinet over differences with Prime Minister over government policy in 1986. Ghafar Baba resigned from his portfolio following UMNO grassroots lost confidence in his leadership and his position as Deputy President of UMNO was challenged by Anwar Ibrahim in the UMNO's top leadership election. Anwar Ibrahim was the first deputy prime minister to be sacked after being accused and subsequently charged with corruption and sodomy in 1998. Muhyiddin Yassin was the second DPM to be removed from office after being dropped from the Cabinet by former Prime Minister Najib Razak in a reshuffle in 2015.[4] He later was sacked from his party.[5] Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's role as deputy prime minister ended after the seventh Mahathir cabinet was dissolved due to its fall from the federal administration in 2020.

List of deputy prime ministers of Malaysia

Colour key (for political parties):

PortraitName
Term of officeMinisterial offices held as Deputy Prime MinisterPolitical partyPrime Minister
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1
Abdul Razak Hussein
Malay: {{Script|Arab|عبدالرزاق حسين
31 August 195722 September 1970
  • Minister of National and Rural Development
  • Minister of Defence
  • Minister of Home Affairs
  • Minister of Finance
Alliance
(UMNO)
Tunku Abdul Rahman
2
Ismail Abdul Rahman
Malay: {{Script|Arab|إسماعيل عبدالرحمن

(Died in office)
22 September 19702 August 1973
  • Minister of Home Affairs
  • Minister of Trade and Industry
Abdul Razak Hussein
3
Hussein Onn
Malay: {{Script|Arab|حسين عون
13 August 197315 January 1976
  • Minister of Education
  • Minister of Trade and Industry
  • Minister of Finance
BN
(UMNO)
4
Mahathir Mohamad
Malay: {{Script|Arab|محاضير محمد
5 March 197616 July 1981
  • Minister of Education
  • Minister of Trade and Industry
Hussein Onn
5
Musa Hitam
Malay: {{Script|Arab|موسى هيتم
18 July 198116 March 1986
  • Minister of Home Affairs
Mahathir Mohamad
6Abdul Ghafar Baba
Malay: {{Script|Arab|عبدالغفار باب
10 May 198615 October 1993
  • Minister of National and Rural Development
  • Minister of Rural Development
7
Anwar Ibrahim
Malay: {{Script|Arab|أنور إبراهيم
1 December 19932 September 1998
  • Minister of Finance
8
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Malay: {{Script|Arab|عبدﷲ أحمد بدوي
8 January 199931 October 2003
  • Minister of Home Affairs
9
Najib Razak
Malay: {{Script|Arab|محمد نجيب عبدالرزاق
7 January 20043 April 2009
  • Minister of Defence
  • Minister of Finance
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
10
Muhyiddin Yassin
Malay: {{Script|Arab|محيي الدين ياسين
10 April 200929 July 2015
  • Minister of Education
Najib Razak
11
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Malay: {{Script|Arab|أحمد زاهد حميدي
29 July 20159 May 2018
  • Minister of Home Affairs
12
Wan Azizah Wan Ismail
Malay: {{Script|Arab|وان عزيزة وان إسماعيل
21 May 201824 February 2020
  • Minister of Women, Family and Community Development
PH
(PKR)
Mahathir Mohamad
13
Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Malay: {{Script|Arab|إسماعيل صبري يعقوب
7 July 202116 August 2021BN
(UMNO)
Muhyiddin Yassin
14
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Malay: {{Script|Arab|أحمد زاهد حميدي
3 December 2022Incumbent
  • Minister of Rural and Regional Development
Anwar Ibrahim

Fadillah Yusof
Malay: {{Script|Arab|فضيلة يوسف
3 December 2022Incumbent
  • Minister of Plantation and Commodities
  • Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities
GPS
(PBB)

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1100 height:auto barincrement:12PlotArea = top:20 bottom:80 right:150 left:20AlignBars = late

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyyPeriod = from:01/01/1957 till:01/01/2023TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1957 Colors = id:lightpurple value:lightpurple legend:ALLIANCE id:blue value:blue legend:BN id:red value:red legend:PH id:pink value:pink legend:GPS

TextData = pos:(1,25) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:

Legend = columns:4 left:150 top:24 columnwidth:100

TextData = pos:(20,27) textcolor:black fontsize:M text:"Party:"

BarData = bar:Abraisar bar:Isarhu bar:Husonn bar:Mamo bar:Musa bar:Agb bar:Abi bar:Paklah bar:Najibraz bar:Abah bar:Zahid bar:Wawi bar:Ismail bar:Yusof

PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till bar:Abraisar from: 31/07/1957 till: 22/09/1970 color:lightpurple text:"Abdul Razak Hussein" fontsize:9 bar:Isarhu from: 22/09/1970 till: 02/08/1973 color:lightpurple text:"Ismail Abdul Rahman" fontsize:9 bar:Husonn from: 13/08/1973 till: 31/05/1974 color:lightpurple from: 01/06/1974 till: 15/01/1976 color:blue text:"Hussein Onn" fontsize:9 bar:Mamo from: 05/03/1976 till: 16/06/1981 color:blue text:"Mahathir Mohamad" fontsize:9 bar:Musa from: 18/07/1981 till: 16/03/1986 color:blue text:"Musa Hitam" fontsize:9 bar:Agb from: 10/05/1986 till: 15/10/1993 color:blue text:"Abdul Ghafar Baba" fontsize:9 bar:Abi from: 01/12/1993 till: 02/09/1998 color:blue text:"Anwar Ibrahim" fontsize:9 bar:Paklah from: 08/01/1999 till: 31/10/2003 color:blue text:"Abdullah Ahmad Badawi" fontsize:9 bar:Najibraz from: 07/01/2004 till: 03/04/2009 color:blue text:"Mohd Najib Abdul Razak" fontsize:9 bar:Abah from: 10/04/2009 till: 28/07/2015 color:blue text:"Muhyiddin Yassin" fontsize:9 bar:Zahid from: 29/07/2015 till: 09/05/2018 color:blue bar:Wawi from: 21/05/2018 till: 24/02/2020 color:red text:"Wan Azizah Wan Ismail" fontsize:9 bar:Ismail from: 07/07/2021 till: 16/08/2021 color:blue text:"Ismail Sabri Yaakob" fontsize:9 bar:Zahid from: 03/12/2022 till: end color:blue text:"Ahmad Zahid Hamidi" fontsize:9 bar:Yusof from: 03/12/2022 till: end color:pink text:"Fadillah Yusof" fontsize:9

See also

References

  1. Web site: CPPS Policy Factsheet: Remuneration of Elected Officials in Malaysia. Centre for Public Policy Studies. 11 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160511013733/http://cpps.org.my/images/articles/Fact%20Sheet%20Remuneration%20of%20Elected%20Officials%20in%20Malaysia.pdf. 11 May 2016. dead.
  2. Web site: Ismail Sabri appointed DPM, Hishammuddin now senior minister. 7 July 2021.
  3. Web site: Tun Ismail bin Datoʿ Abdul Rahman Malay politician. 2021-08-24. Encyclopedia Britannica. en.
  4. Web site: Muhyiddin terima penggugurannya dengan hati terbuka. ms. Utusan Malaysia. 28 July 2015. 11 May 2016.
  5. Web site: UMNO sacks former Malaysian DPM Muhyiddin Yassin and Mukhriz Mahathir. Channel NewsAsia. 24 June 2018. 12 July 2018. 16 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170216165713/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/umno-sacks-former/2901884.html. dead.