Abdul Latiff bin Ahmad ( Jawi: عبداللطيف بن أحمد ; born 9 July 1958) is a Malaysian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, ...

who served as

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department. List of Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department The following individuals have been appo ...

for Special Functions from 2021 to 2022. He was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Mersing Mersing (Terengganu Malay: ''Merecing'' or ''Ngesing'') is a town, mukim and the capital of Mersing District, Johor, Malaysia. As of 2010, the town has an estimated population of 70,894. Mersing town, is particularly significant for a number ...

from 1999 to 2022. Abdul Latiff previously served as Minister of Rural Development from 2020 to 2021. He held various posts such as Deputy Minister of Defence, Deputy Minister of Health, and Deputy Minister of Human Resources. Percentage figures are calculated based on total turnout. Results only available from the 2004 election. Percentage figures based on total turnout. Abdul Latiff was a member of the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its ...

(UMNO), a component party of the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

(BN) coalition. He left UMNO in 2018, and joined the

Malaysian United Indigenous Party The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( ms, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia (). It is a major c ...

(BERSATU) the following year. BERSATU is a component party of the

Perikatan Nasional The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbrev: PN) is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coalition was ...

(PN) coalition.

Political career

Abd Latiff was firstly elected to the

Johor State Legislative Assembly The Johor State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Negeri Johor) is the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is composed of 56 members who are elected from single-member constituencies throughout the state. Elections are he ...

for Endau seat in 1995 election. In the 1999 general election he switched to federal politics by contesting and winning to be the MP of Mersing constituency in Johor, and thereafter served as Deputy Minister of Human Resources (1999 to 2004), Deputy Minister of Health (2004 to 2008) and Deputy Minister of Defence (2008 to 2013). He was reelected MP for the Mersing parliamentary seat in the consecutive

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

general elections. Abd Latiff was dropped from

Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malay ...

's cabinet after the 2013 general election, and was appointed as the chairman of the government-linked housing development company Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB). He left SPNB in early 2019 after BN lost as the ruling federal government to

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the ...

(PH) in the 2018 election.

Controversies and issues

Insulting UMNO

On 8 July 2020, he said UMNO was an unscrupulous party in Sabah after its leaders jumped to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). Earlier, a video featuring Abdul Latif's statement in an open forum on the matter was spread on social media where he mentioned "Sabahans do not mention jumping but call migration and usually from Berjaya to PBS, PBS goes to UMNO. Meanwhile, Abdul Latiff's statement met with opposition from UMNO leaders who are now urging him to resign. After receiving word of mouth from UMNO leaders, finally he admitted his mistake. While reminding UMNO, the real enemy is the opponents and they should not quarrel with each other, he said he apologized if the statement regarding "UMNO does not work in Sabah" was misunderstood and hurt the hearts of many parties.

Election results

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : **

Companion Class I of the Order of Malacca (DMSM) – Datuk (2003) * : ** Sultan Ibrahim Coronation Medal ribbon

Second Class of the Sultan Ibrahim Medal (PIS II) (1995) **

Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Johor - ribbon_bar

Companion of the

Order of the Crown of Johor The Most Honourable Order of the Crown of Johor ( Malay: ''Darjah Mahkota Johor Yang Amat Mulia'') is an Order of chivalry awarded by the Sultan of Johor. It was first instituted on July 31, 1886. It is awarded in three classes: *Knight Grand Co ...

(SMJ) (1997)"Chua gets Datukship in Johor Honours List", ''New Straits Times'', 8 April 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul Latiff Ahmad 1958 births Living people People from Johor Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims Malaysian United Indigenous Party politicians Former United Malays National Organisation politicians Independent politicians in Malaysia Members of the Dewan Rakyat University of Malaya alumni 21st-century Malaysian politicians Companions of the Order of the Crown of Johor