Hamzah bin Zainudin (; born 12 March 1957) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 17th

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

since December 2022 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Larut since March 2008. He served as the

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

for the second term 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 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 ...

Ismail Sabri Yaakob Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob (; born 18 January 1960) is a Malaysian lawyer and politician who served as the ninth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2021 to 2022. He is both the shortest-serving prime minister (served for 15 months) and the shortes ...

from August 2021 to the collapse of the BN administration in November 2022 and the first term 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 under former prime minister

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 ...

from March 2020 to the collapse of the PN administration in August 2021, Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government in the BN administration under former prime ministers

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (, ; 26 November 1939 – 14 April 2025), also known as Pak Lah, was a Malaysian politician and civil servant who served as the fifth prime minister of Malaysia from 2003 to 2009. A member of UMNO, he was the party's ...

and

Najib Razak Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak (, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, on ...

from March 2008 to the collapse of the BN administration in May 2018 as well as a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

from September 2000 to September 2006. He is a member 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 Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition and was a member of the

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), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He has also served as the Deputy Chairman of PN since December 2024 and 3rd Deputy President of BERSATU since November 2024. He also served as the 1st Secretary-General of PN from March 2020 to December 2024 and the 3rd Secretary-General of BERSATU from March 2020 to November 2024.

Early life and education

Hamzah was born on 12 March 1957 in

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 ...

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

(now Malaysia). He was a student at

Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman (; abbreviated STAR) is an all-boys fully Boarding school, residential school in Malaysia funded by the Government of Malaysia. Named after the first Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King) of the Federation of Malaya, Almarhum ...

(STAR). He received his Diploma in

Quantity Surveying In the construction industry, a quantity surveyor (QS) is a professional with expert knowledge of construction costs and contracting. Qualified professional quantity surveyors can be known as Chartered Surveyors (Members and Fellows of RICS) in ...

from

University of Technology Malaysia University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) () is a Malaysian public research-intensive university ranked 188th in the world by QS University rankings. Its medium of instruction is English. Campuses UTM has three campuses – the main campus is in ...

in 1975.

Early career

He served as the General Manager with Maju Bangun Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary company of the Perak State Development Corporation from 1980 till 1987. He has also served as a member of the board of

Ipoh City Council The Ipoh City Council (, abbreviated MBI) is the city council which administers the city of Ipoh in the state of Perak, Malaysia. This council was established after the city was officially granted city status on 27 May 1988. Their jurisdiction cov ...

and Stadium Merdeka Corporation from 1987 to 1993 and 1991 to 1997 respectively. In 1989, he ventured into private business and sat on several companies listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (known then as the

Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange Bursa Malaysia (English: Malaysian Bourses or Malaysia Exchange) is the stock exchange in Malaysia. It is one of the largest bourses in ASEAN. It is based in Kuala Lumpur and was previously known as the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). It p ...

). He held various chairman and deputy chairman duties, including chairman of FELCRA Berhad, the Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority that oversees land management and development of agro land owned by the individuals and states.

Political career

Hamzah was elected to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the 2008 election and was appointed a Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government. He was previously a member of the Malaysian Senate. He served as the Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government in the

(BN) administration under former prime ministers

and

from March 2008 to the defeat of BN in the 2018 general election in May 2018. He has also served as the member of parliament (MP) for Larut since March 2008. Presently he is a member of the

(BERSATU) and its 3rd secretary-general since March 2020, a component party of the ruling PN coalition and he also serves as its 1st secretary-general since August 2020. He was a member of the then-ruling

(UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He subsequently resigned from

UMNO The United Malays National Organisation ( abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a conservative, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its inception in 1946), UMNO has been known as ...

to join

BERSATU The Malaysian United Indigenous Party (Malay language, Malay: ''Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia''; Abbreviation, abbrev: BERSATU or PPBM) is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association ...

in December 2018. In 2020, when the

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 ...

government crumpled due to

Mahathir Mohamad Mahathir bin Mohamad (; ; born 10 July 1925) is a Malaysian politician, author and doctor who was respectively the fourth and seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, prime minister of Malaysia from 1981 to 2003 and from 2018 to 2020. He was the ...

's sudden resignation after trying to eradicate those who are involved in the

Sheraton Move Sheraton may refer to: *Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, a hotel chain *Sheraton, County Durham, a village in County Durham, in England *Sheraton Centre (Barbados), a mall complex located in the parish of Christ Church, Barbados *Sheraton style, an 18t ...

but failed. He was elected as the Home Minister by the newly appointed Prime Minister

in his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. He then retained as the Home Minister in Ismail Sabri cabinet. In December 2022, he led the

coalition to become the 17th

Controversies and issues

Divorcing his first wife

In 2004, he was asked to pay his first wife Nooraini Rashid RM11.2 million in settlements for allegedly divorcing her to marry a much younger woman. In 2007 however, the Syariah Appeals Court allowed for his appeal to not pay his ex-wife.

Allegations against Anwar Ibrahim

In August 2008, former best friend and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, filed a defamation suit against him seeking RM10 million in damages over Hamzah’s allegations that Anwar had harassed his wife in 1998. Hamzah allegedly made the remark when campaigning during the Permatang Pauh by-election in August 2008, which subsequently saw Anwar’s return to parliament after a 10-year absence.

Intervention in PDRM

In 2021, he was caught having a phone conversation with the soon-to-retire

Inspector-General of Police An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...

(IGP) to allow him to internally transfer staffs and also enable him to have over certain jurisdiction of

Polis Diraja Malaysia The Royal Malaysia Police (often abbreviated RMP) (; Jawi script, Jawi: ), is a (primarily) uniformed national and federal police force in Malaysia. The force is a centralised organisation, and its headquarters are located at Bukit Aman, Kuala ...

(PDRM) which will indirectly interfere with the operation. At the IGP's last week in office, Abdul Hamid Bador revealed all the dirty tricks of Hamzah trial efforts to interfere with the PDRM and how it will affect the PDRM's reputation. He acknowledged that the voice of the recording was his and stand being corrected as it is not unlawful despite IGP's comment on how politician's interference will make operations hard for the PDRM.

Personal life

Hamzah was married to Noraini Abdul Rashid in 1994 before divorcing her in 1996 to marry his second wife, Nurasikin Abdul Ghani. He has 5 children.

Election results

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

* : **

MY Pingat Pertabalan Yang di-Pertuan Agong XVII ribbon

Recipient of the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal ** Officer of the

Order of the Defender of the Realm The Most Esteemed Order of the Defender of the Realm () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country. The Order Motto are 'Dipeliharakan Allah-Pangkuan Negara' (By the Grace of God-Defender of the Realm). The o ...

(KMN) (2000) * : ** MY-PAH Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang - Grand Knight - SSAP

Grand Knight of the

Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang The Most Illustrious Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang ( Malay: ''Darjah Kebesaran Sultan Ahmad Shah Pahang Yang Amat Di Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Ahmad Shah on 24 O ...

(SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2021) * : ** MY-PERA Order of the Perak State Crown - Kn Grd Commander - SPMP

Knight Grand Commander of the

Order of the Perak State Crown The Most Illustrious Order of the Perak State Crown ( Malay: ''Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Negeri Perak Yang Amat Mulia'') is knighthood order of the Sultanate of Perak. Background It was founded by Sultan Yusuf Izzuddin Shah on 12 December 1957. ...

(SPMP) – Dato' Seri (2015) ** MY-PERA Order of the Perak State Crown - lower classes

Knight Commander of the

(DPMP) – Dato' (2002) ** Commander of the

(PMP) (1992) ** Recipient of the Distinguished Conduct Medal (PPT) (1990) ** Justice of the Peace (JP) (1996) * : ** MY-NEG Grand Order of Tuanku Jaafar - DPTJ

Knight Commander of the Order of Tuanku Jaafar (DPTJ) – Dato' (1997) * : ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - SPDK

Grand Commander of the

Order of Kinabalu The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia. Background The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...

(SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamzah Zainuddin Living people 1957 births People from Perak Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian people of Indonesian descent Malaysian Muslims Malaysian businesspeople Malaysian United Indigenous Party politicians Former United Malays National Organisation politicians Independent politicians in Malaysia Government ministers of Malaysia Home ministers of Malaysia Members of the Dewan Negara Officers of the Order of the Defender of the Realm Grand Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu Malaysian MPs 2008–2013 Malaysian MPs 2013–2018 Malaysian MPs 2018–2022 Malaysian MPs 2022–