Mohd Puad Zarkashi (Jawi: فؤاد زرکشي) (born 7 July 1957) 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 has served as
Speaker of the
Johor State Legislative Assembly since April 2022 and Member of the
Johor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for
Rengit since March 2022. He previously served as
Deputy Minister of Education 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
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 ...
and former 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 April 2009 to May 2013,
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Batu Pahat
The Batu Pahat District is a district in the state of Johor, Malaysia. It lies southeast of Muar, southwest of Kluang, northwest of Pontian, south of Segamat and Tangkak District. The capital of the district is Bandar Penggaram.
Geograph ...
from March 2008 to May 2013,
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 October 2004 to October 2007 and Director-General of
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) from March 2015 to his resignation in April 2018. He is 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 ruling BN coalition. He is also Member of the Supreme Council of UMNO. He is generally regarded as a vocal supporter of
Deputy Prime Minister
A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi (; born 4 January 1953) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Rural and Regional Development (Malaysia), Minister of Rural and Regional Devel ...
and 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 ...
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 ...
as well as a critic of
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) and its Chairman
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 ...
.
Early life and education
Puad is of
Banjar descent. He holds a
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...
conferred by the
University of Hull
The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...
.
Political career
Puad was elected at the
2008 election for the seat previously held by UMNO's Junaidy Abdul Wahab.
[ Percentage figures are calculated based on total turnout. Includes results from the 2004 election.] He had previously served 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 ...
. Puad only served one term in the
Dewan Rakyat
The Dewan Rakyat (; Jawi script, Jawi: ), is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Malaysia, Parliament which is the federal legislature of Malaysia. The chamber and its powers are established by Article 44 of the Constitu ...
, after being defeated in the
2013 election by
Mohd Idris Jusi of the opposition
People's Justice Party (PKR). Despite his defeat, he was re-elected to UMNO's 25-member Supreme Council later in the year. Puad was dropped as candidate by UMNO in the
2018 general election.
In April 2008, Puad called for the resignation of then Prime Minister
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 ...
after UMNO's performance in the 2008 election.
When
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 ...
replaced Abdullah as Prime Minister in April 2009, Puad was appointed a Deputy Education Minister.
Puad was appointed JASA director-general in March 2015 but he quit on 25 April 2018 in protest for not being picked as a BN candidate for the
2018 general election.
JASA was somehow disbanded months later by the new
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) government after the downfall of the BN in the 2018 election.
Controversies
In September 2012, Puad stated his belief that
homosexuals
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
could be identified through various means including the use of "V-Neck and sleeveless clothing" as well as a person's personal preference for "tight and light-colored clothing". He stated that these characteristics were "symptoms" which would allow parents to spot whether or not their son may be a homosexual, supporting the need to discipline them into turning straight "like it's a disease which can be cured" – a stance that is also endorsed by
Malaysia's Ministry of Education because they believe that this could actually affect one's ability to learn.
Election results
Honours
* :
**

Commander of the
Order of Meritorious Service (PJN) – Datuk (2014)
* :
**

Second Class of the
Sultan Ibrahim Medal (PIS II) (2000)
* {{Flag, Pahang :
**

Knight Companion of the
Order of Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang (DSAP) – Dato' (2009)
References
Living people
Members of the Dewan Negara
Alumni of the University of Hull
United Malays National Organisation politicians
1957 births
Speakers of the Johor State Legislative Assembly
Commanders of the Order of Meritorious Service
Malaysian politicians of Malay descent
Malaysian Muslims
Malaysian people of Banjar descent
Malaysian MPs 2008–2013