Ahmad Faizal bin Azumu (
Jawi: أحمد فيصل بن ازومو; born 10 June 1970), nicknamed Peja, is a
Malaysian politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
who served as the
Minister of Youth and Sports in the
Barisan Nasional
Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...
(BN) administration under former Prime Minister
Ismail Sabri Yaakob from August 2021 to the collapse of the BN administration in November 2022, Special Advisor to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Muhyiddin Yassin
Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin (; ), is a Malaysian politician who served as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2020 to 2021. Appointed as prime minister amid a 2020–2022 Malay ...
in the
Perikatan Nasional
Perikatan Nasional (PN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Right-wing politics, right-wing and Far-right politics, far-right political parties. It is the second largest political coalition in Dewan Rakyat w ...
(PN) administration in August 2021, 12th and 13th
Menteri Besar of Perak from May 2018 to his first resignation in March 2020 and again from March 2020 to his second resignation in December 2020. He also served as the
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Tambun and Member of the
Perak State Legislative Assembly
The Perak State Legislative Assembly () is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Perak. It is composed of 59 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the state. Elections are held no more than five years a ...
(MLA) for
Chenderiang from May 2018 to November 2022. He is a member and State Chairman of
Perak
Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
and
Pahang
{{Infobox political division
, name = Pahang
, official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur
, native_name =
, settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State
, image_skyline =
, imagesize ...
of the
Malaysian United Indigenous Party
The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( Malay: ''Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia''; abbrev: BERSATU or PPBM) is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia ( Malay: ) and ...
(BERSATU), a component party of the PN and formerly
Pakatan Harapan
Pakatan Harapan (PH; stylised as HARAPAN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has led ...
(PH) coalitions. He has served as the 2nd Information Chief of PN since December 2024 and Vice President of BERSATU since November 2024. He also served as the 2nd Deputy President of BERSATU from August 2020 to November 2024 and 2nd State Chairman of PN and BERSATU of Negeri Sembilan from May 2023 to February and January 2024 respectively. He was also the State Chairman of PH of
Perak
Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
. He was one of the only two state leaders of Malaysia who has led state administrations of two different and opposing political coalitions alongside
Mukhriz Mahathir
Mukhriz bin Mahathir (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: مخرج بن محاضر; born 25 November 1964) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician and businessman who served as the 11th and 13th Menteri Besar of Kedah from May 2013 to February 2016 and a ...
.
He was removed from office of the
Menteri Besar of Perak after losing the motion of the
2020 vote of no confidence in the Perak State Legislative Assembly on 4 December, and he served in caretaker capacity for another day despite his intention to only resign once the appointment of a new officeholder and formation of a new state administration take place.
Early life

Ahmad Faizal was born in Ipoh, Perak. He received his primary education at Cator Avenue School, Ipoh and had his secondary education at
Anderson School, Ipoh.
Political career
He began his political career as a Special Officer to Health Minister
Liow Tiong Lai between 2011 and 2013 before becoming Senior Special Officer to Kedah Mentri Besar
Mukhriz Mahathir
Mukhriz bin Mahathir (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: مخرج بن محاضر; born 25 November 1964) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician and businessman who served as the 11th and 13th Menteri Besar of Kedah from May 2013 to February 2016 and a ...
between 2013 and 2016. He also formerly served in the
Special Affairs Department
Community Communications Department (, Abbr.: J-KOM) (previously called Special Affairs Department (, Abbr.: JASA) is a government agency of the Malaysian government, under the purview of the Ministry of Communications.
Overview
The agency fir ...
(JASA).
He was the former
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation (Abbreviation, abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a Conservatism, conservative, Nationalism, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its ince ...
(UMNO) Ipoh Barat Youth chief (2016–2017) before he became Perak BERSATU chairman. He was subsequently named
Perak
Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
Pakatan Harapan
Pakatan Harapan (PH; stylised as HARAPAN; ) is a Malaysian Parliamentary group, political coalition consisting of Centre-left politics, centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has led ...
chairman in August 2017. He was appointed Special Advisor to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Muhyiddin Yassin
Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Mohd Yassin (; ), is a Malaysian politician who served as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2020 to 2021. Appointed as prime minister amid a 2020–2022 Malay ...
on 5 August 2021, who is in charge of advising Muhyiddin on matters related to community networking, community communications and socioeconomic development.
Controversies
Ahmad Faizal was reported to have pursued a Business Studies degree from
Edith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University (ECU) is a public research university in Western Australia. It is named in honour of the first woman to be elected to an Parliaments of the Australian states and territories, Australian parliament, Edith Cowan, and is, , t ...
in Perth, Australia.
He however denied the reports and claimed that while he did pursue the course he had to put his studies on hold for personal reasons. Ahmad Faizal holds a Masters Degree in Political Science from
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Ahmad Faizal has been very critical of the
Orang Asli
The Orang Asli are a Homogeneity and heterogeneity, heterogeneous Indigenous peoples, indigenous population forming a national minority in Malaysia. They are the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia.
As of 2017, the Orang Asli accounted f ...
indigenous tribes ever since he took office as Menteri Besar. On 23 November 2018, Ahmad Faizal made a statement that the Orang Asli should improve themselves before asking for aid. On 29 July 2019, Ahmad Faizal claimed that there is no definition or recognition of ancestral or customary land (''tanah adat'') for Orang Asli under the state constitution. It was refuted by fellow PH's MP,
Ramkarpal Singh and the
Malaysian Bar
The Malaysian Bar () is a professional body which regulates the profession of lawyers in peninsular Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is no distinction between a barrister and a solicitor, in that, it is a fused profession. Membership into the Bar ...
. During his administration, many Orang Asli residents were arrested for protesting over the state government's decision to acquire their land for logging activities.
As special adviser to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, he faced brickbats from netizens for his apathy in the middle of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, when he posted a food review in his office. Some questioned his appointment as special adviser in a time when the backdoor government was struggling with bloated spending.
On 13 June 2022, he made a statement on Twitter about Malaysian football supporters due to the
Malaysian football team losing against
Bahrain
Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
in Bukit Jalil National Stadium, causing a backlash from supporters. He later apologized.
Filmography
Drama
Discography
*Moh Perak Ke Kita (Moh Beraya) ft Shiha Zikir and Dato Jamal Abdillah
Personal life
He is married to Dr Nomee Ashikin Mohammed Radzi and has two children. His sister-in-law who is Dr Nomee's younger sister;
Nolee Ashilin Mohamed Radzi is the UMNO turned
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
and later hopped to BERSATU
Tulang Sekah constituency MLA since 2008.
Election results
Honours
Honours of Malaysia
* :
**

Member of the
Order of the Perak State Crown (AMP) (2007)
**

Knight Grand Commander of the
Order of the Perak State Crown (SPMP) – Dato' Seri (2018)
See also
*
2020 vote of no confidence in the Faizal Azumu ministry
A vote of no confidence in the Malaysian state of Perak National Alliance– National Front (PN–BN) government of Ahmad Faizal Azumu occurred on 4 December 2020. The 'vote of confidence' was initially brought by Abdul Manap Hashim before be ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmad Faizal Azumu
1970 births
Living people
Malaysian politicians of Malay descent
Malaysian Muslims
Malaysian businesspeople
Malaysian United Indigenous Party politicians
Former United Malays National Organisation politicians
Members of the Perak State Legislative Assembly
Chief ministers of Perak
Perak state executive councillors
Malaysian MPs 2018–2022