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Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Abdul Aziz is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Mohamed Nazri. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.
Yang Berbahagia Dato' Seri
Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz
SPMP SSAP DMSM DJMK
محمد نظري عبدالعزيز‎
Nazri in 2023
17th Malaysian Ambassador to the United States
In office
9 February 2023 – 8 February 2025
MonarchsAbdullah
Ibrahim
Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahim
Preceded byAzmil Mohd Zabidi
Minister of Tourism and Culture
In office
16 May 2013 – 9 May 2018
MonarchsAbdul Halim
Muhammad V
Prime MinisterNajib Razak
DeputyMas Ermieyati Samsudin (2015–2018)
Preceded byNg Yen Yen (Tourism)
Rais Yatim (Culture)
Succeeded byMohammadin Ketapi as Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture
ConstituencyPadang Rengas
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Legal Affairs
In office
27 March 2004 – 15 May 2013
Serving with Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (2004–2006)
Zaid Ibrahim (2008)
MonarchsSirajuddin
Mizan Zainal Abidin
Abdul Halim
Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi
Najib Razak
DeputyM. Kayveas (2004–2008)
Hasan Malek (2008–2009)
Liew Vui Keong (2009–2013)
Murugiah Thopasamy (2009–2011)
Preceded byRais Yatim
Succeeded byNancy Shukri
Shahidan Kassim
ConstituencyPadang Rengas
Minister of Entrepreneur Development
In office
15 December 1999 – 26 March 2004
MonarchsSalahuddin
Sirajuddin
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
DeputyMohd Khalid Mohd Yunos (2002–2004)
Preceded byMustapa Mohamed
Succeeded byMohamed Khaled Nordin as Minister of Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development
ConstituencyChenderoh
Deputy Minister of Finance I
In office
12 November 1996 – 14 December 1999
MonarchsJa'afar
Salahuddin
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
MinisterAnwar Ibrahim (1996–1998)
Mahathir Mohamad (1998–1999)
Mustapa Mohamed (1998–1999)
Daim Zainuddin (1999)
Preceded byAffifudin Omar
Succeeded byShafie Salleh
ConstituencyChenderoh
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
In office
8 May 1995 – 12 November 1996
MonarchJa'afar
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
MinisterAbang Abu Bakar Abang Mustapha
Preceded bySuleiman Mohamed
Wong See Wah
Succeeded byIbrahim Ali
ConstituencyChenderoh
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Padang Rengas
In office
21 March 2004 – 19 November 2022
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byAzahari Hasan
(PN–BERSATU)
Majority5,563 (2004)
1,749 (2008)
2,230 (2013)
2,548 (2018)
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Chenderoh
In office
25 April 1995 – 21 March 2004
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Majority11,793 (1995)
3,990 (1999)
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
1995–2022Barisan Nasional
Personal details
Born
Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz

(1954-05-15) 15 May 1954 (age 70)
Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
CitizenshipMalaysian
Political partyUnited Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Other political
affiliations		Barisan Nasional (BN)
EducationMalay College Kuala Kangsar
Alma materLincoln's Inn (LLB)
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionBarrister

Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz (Jawi: محمد نظري بن عبدالعزيز; born 15 May 1954) is a Malaysian politician and barrister who most recently served as Malaysian Ambassador to the United States from February 2023 to February 2025.

He was also the Minister of Tourism and Culture from May 2013 to May 2018, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs from March 2004 to May 2013, Minister of Entrepreneur Development from December 1999 to March 2004, Deputy Minister of Finance I from November 1996 to December 1999, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department from May 1995 to November 1996 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Padang Rengas from March 2004 to November 2022.[1]

Early life and education

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Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz was born in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaysia. He is the alumnus of Malay College Kuala Kangsar. He has an educational background in law and is qualified as a barrister of Lincoln's Inn.

Political career

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Nazri was described as the hatchetman for then prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi by Mahathir Mohamad.[2]

In 2009, a photo of a woman and a man, alleged to be Nazri, in a compromising position was posted on a blog. Nazri refused to comment when contacted by the media but politicians close to him denied that it was Nazri in the photo.[3]

In 2010, he came out openly in the defence of Prime Minister Najib's 1Malaysia policy, saying that he is a "Malaysian first and a Malay next". This was an inverse of then deputy prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin's statement that he was Malay first and Malaysian second.[2]

In 2016, he was criticised for his decision of threatening to stop tourism funding from his ministry to Sabah and Sarawak if both the states did not implement a proposed tourism service tax fee of between RM5 and RM30 on each hotel room booking.[4]

Following criticism over his tourism tax fee plan by Sarawak State Tourism, Arts, Culture, Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Nazri responded by referring to the Karim as a “greenhorn” and “behaving like a gangster”.[5] His response received backlash from other government-allied parties.[6][7] As a result of his comment, the Sarawak state government made a decision to withdraw their participation from Tourism Malaysia.[8]

Nazri has called for the seasonal flooding in Kelantan to be turned into tourist attractions on two occasions, eliciting backlash.[9][10]

In 2019, Nazri questioned the appointment of non-Muslims to the posts of Attorney General, Chief Justice and Finance Minister during a campaign speech, describing it as a threat to the position of Malays in the country. He also warned non-Bumiputeras not to question the special rights afforded to the Malay population, using vernacular schools as an example of special rights given to non-Malays. He further stated that if non-Malays wanted to abolish the special rights afforded to the Malay population, vernacular schools would need to be closed to make it fair.[11] When questioned about his statement on closing vernacular schools by media, he claimed to have been taken out of context.[12][13]

In January 2021 during the 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis, Nazri publicly announced that he was withdrawing his support as a member of parliament for the then-ruling Perikatan Nasional government of Muhyiddin Yassin, which the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) participated in through Barisan Nasional as a junior partner. He also stated that a majority of Barisan Nasional MPs did not want the coalition's chairman, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, as their spokesman. Amid reports that UMNO MPs were being summoned to withdraw their support for the government by August the same year, Nazri reversed his earlier decision and announced that he was in support of the incumbent administration, citing the party's general assembly's resolution to do so until the next election.[14]

Personal life

[edit]

He is married and has a daughter and three sons named Ferasha Mohamed Nazri, Mohamed Ferhad Mohamed Nazri and Mohamed Nedim Mohamed Nazri. Then, he married Haflin Saiful and has a son named Jean Pierre Azize Mohamed Nazri.

In January 2021, Nazri was tested positive for COVID-19 and warded at the Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab in Kota Baru.[15]

Election results

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Parliament of Malaysia[16][17][18][19][20][21]
Year Constituency Candidate Votes Pct Opponent(s) Votes Pct Ballots cast Majority Turnout
1995 P058 Chenderoh Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO) 16,983 76.59% Saidin Mat Piah (S46) 5,190 23.41% 23,141 11,793 67.31%
1999 Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO) 13,374 58.77% Hamzah Mohd Zain (keADILan) 9,384 41.23% 23,397 3,990 64.77%
2004 P061 Padang Rengas Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO) 9,214 65.74% Mohd Zolkafly Yahaya (PKR) 4,442 34.26% 18,132 5,563 72.93%
2008 Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO) 9,830 54.88% Alias Zenon (PKR) 8,081 45.12% 18,350 1,749 75.21%
2013 Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO) 13,005 54.69% Meor Ahmad Isharra Ishak (PKR) 10,775 45.31% 24,230 2,230 84.96%
2018 Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO) 10,491 41.50% Ejazi Yahaya (PKR) 7,943 31.42% 25,698 2,548 82.91%
Mohd Azalan Mohd Radzi (PAS) 6,847 27.08%
Ahmad Affandi Fairuz (KITA) 1,380 16.07%

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Mohamed Nazri bin Tan Sri Abdul Aziz, Y.B. Dato' Seri" (in Malay). Parliament of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 25 December 2009. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  2. ^ a b Aidil Syukri (13 April 2011). "Nazri Aziz: Brutally Honest or Downright Arrogant?". Malaysian Digest. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Man in photo with woman 'not Nazri'". The Star. 14 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 March 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
  4. ^ "New daily hotel fee plan but Sabah can opt out". Daily Express. 4 September 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Abdul Karim kesal digelar `setahun jagung' oleh Nazri" (in Malay). Utusan Malaysia. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  6. ^ Jonathan Chia (12 June 2017). "Nazri's statement on Abd Karim rude – Fadillah". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  7. ^ Shafizan Johari (12 June 2017). "Anifah Aman nasihat Nazri elak guris hati rakyat Sarawak, Sabah" (in Malay). Astro Awani. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  8. ^ "State govt withdrawing participation of representative in Tourism Malaysia". The Borneo Post. 12 June 2017. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Nazri says floods can be turned into 'voluntourism' attractions, gets slammed on social media". The Star. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 15 April 2025.
  10. ^ Ghazali, N. Faizal (17 February 2018). "Nazri: Turn floods, graves and monkeys into K'tan tourist attractions". Malaysiakini.
  11. ^ Chie, Kow Gah (24 February 2019). "Nazri reaches for racial playbook in Semenyih". Malaysiakini.
  12. ^ Perimbanayagam, Kalbana (25 February 2019). "Vernacular school issue taken out of context: Nazri". NST Online.
  13. ^ Lee, Annabelle (25 February 2019). "Nazri claims media misquoted him on call to close vernacular schools". Malaysiakini.
  14. ^ "Nazri does a u-turn supports PM". Free Malaysia Today.
  15. ^ "Umno MP Nazri Aziz warded for Covid-19 at KB hospital". Malay Mail. 19 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 14 June 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  17. ^ "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 12 March 2017. Results only available from the 2004 election.
  18. ^ "Malaysia Decides 2008". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 2 January 2010.
  19. ^ "KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13". Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum. Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  20. ^ "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  21. ^ "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
  22. ^ a b c d "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat". Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia).
  23. ^ "David Arumugam, Khadijah Ibrahim now Datuks". Bernama. The Star. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  24. ^ "Armed Forces chief leads Kelantan honours list". The Star. 12 November 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
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