| Honorific-Prefix: | Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Dato' Seri Haji |
| Wan Mokhtar Wan Ahmad | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | PSM SSMT DA SPMT KMN DPMJ JP PJK |
| Birth Name: | Wan Mokhtar bin Wan Ahmad |
| Native Name: | وان مختار وان أحمد |
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1932 |
| Birth Place: | Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Unfederated Malay States, British Malaya (now Malaysia) |
| Death Place: | Prince Court Medical Centre, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur |
| Resting Place: | Section 21 Muslim Cemetery, Shah Alam, Selangor |
| Office: | 10th Menteri Besar of Terengganu |
| Term Start: | 1 September 1974 |
| Term End: | 2 December 1999 |
| Predecessor: | Nik Hassan Wan Abdul Rahman (UMNO) |
| Successor: | Abdul Hadi Awang (PAS) |
| Constituency Mp1: | Kemaman |
| Parliament1: | Malaysian |
| Term Start1: | 25 April 1964 |
| Term End1: | 23 August 1974 |
| Predecessor1: | Wan Yahya Wan Mohamed |
| Successor1: | Wan Abdul Kadir Ismail |
| Constituency Am2: | Cukai |
| Assembly2: | Terengganu State Legislative |
| Term Start2: | 24 August 1974 |
| Term End2: | 29 November 1999 |
| Order3: | Malaysian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia |
| Monarch3: | Sirajuddin |
| Predecessor3: | Shapi Abu Samah |
| Successor3: | Ismail Ibrahim |
| Term Start3: | 23 November 2000 |
| Term End3: | 1 June 2005 |
| Party: | United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) |
| Otherparty: | Alliance Party Barisan Nasional (BN) |
| Children: | 5 |
| Alma Mater: | Al-Azhar University |
Wan Mokhtar bin Wan Ahmad (21 March 1932 – 21 September 2020) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 11th Menteri Besar of Terengganu. In office for 25 years, he was the longest-serving head of the Terengganu state government (1974 - 1999). He also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kemaman (1964 - 1974) and Member of the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Cukai (1974 - 1999).[1]
Wan Mokhtar was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in the then-ruling Alliance and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He was an ally of the similarly longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. In 1987, he was elected the vice-president of UMNO, alongside Anwar Ibrahim, under Mahathir's running team.[2]
His political prominence in the state came to an end in the 1999 state election, when the then-opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) ousted the Barisan Nasional (BN) state government with a landslide victory. He also lost his Chukai state seat then.[3] He was then appointed as the Malaysian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2005.[1]
Wan Mokhtar was married to Aishahtun Mohd Fadlullah Suhaimi (1937–2018) and the couple had five children.[4] [5] One of his sons, Wan Abdul Hakim was elected in the 2013 state election as the MLA for the Air Putih state assembly constituency for one term from 2013 to 2018 before being defeated in the next state elections.[6] [7]
On 21 September 2020, Wan Mokhtar died at 6:20 a.m. at Prince Court Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur due to heart complications. He was 88 years old and is survived by his 5 children.[8] [9] [10] He was laid to rest at the Section 21 Muslim Cemetery in Shah Alam, Selangor.[11] [12]
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | P029 Kemaman, Trengganu | (UMNO) | 10,153 | 64.20% | bgcolor= | Wan Hamid Wan Ibrahim (SF) | 3,072 | 19.43% | 16,556 | 7,081 | 75.21% | |||
| Syed Noh Alwee (PMIP) | 2,589 | 16.37% | ||||||||||||
| 1969 | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | 9,428 | 52.49% | Wan Yahya Wan Mohamed (PMIP) | 8,534 | 47.51% | 18,872 | 894 | 70.02% | |||||
| Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | N28 Chukai | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | |||||||||||
| 1978 | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | ||||||||||||
| 1982 | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | ||||||||||||
| 1986 | N31 Cukai | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | 5,562 | 67.13% | Awang Dagang Yusof (PAS) | 2,566 | 30.97% | 8,650 | 2,996 | 72.17% | |||
| bgcolor= | Zainal Abidin Mustaffa (SDP) | 158 | 1.91% | ||||||||||
| 1990 | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | 6,206 | 58.39% | Alias Abdul Rahman (S46) | 4,422 | 41.60% | 10,962 | 1,784 | 77.70% | ||||
| 1995 | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | ||||||||||||
| 1999 | Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (UMNO) | 6,128 | 48.28% | Awang Jusoh (PAS) | 6,564 | 51.72% | 12,894 | 436 | 78.47% | ||||