Reezal Merican bin Naina Merican (
Jawi: ; born 29 July 1972) is a
Malaysian
Malaysian may refer to:
* Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia
* Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia
* Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regar ...
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, a ...
and
banker
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
who served as the
Minister of Housing and Local Government in 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 se ...
(BN) administration under former Prime Minister
Ismail Sabri Yaakob
Malay styles and titles#State titles, Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob ( ms, اسماعيل صبري بن يعقوب, label=Jawi alphabet, Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; born 18 January 1960) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian lawyer and poli ...
from August 2021 to the collapse of the BN administration in November 2022, the
Minister of Youth and Sports
Minister may refer to:
* Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric
** Minister (Catholic Church)
* Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department)
** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
in the
Perikatan Nasional
The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbreviation, 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 coa ...
(PN) administration under former Prime Minister
Muhyiddin Yassin
Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md Yasin (born 15 May 1947), commonly known as Muhyiddin bin Muhammad Yassin ( ms, محيي الدين بن محمد ياسين, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset; ), is a Malaysian politician who serv ...
from March 2020 to the collapse of the PN administration in August 2021 and 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
(MP) for
Kepala Batas from May 2013 after the retirement of 5th and former Prime Minister
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Tun Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi ( Jawi: عبد الله بن احمد بدوي; born 26 November 1939) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia from October 2003 to April 2009. He was also the sixth president of ...
as the MP from politics to his electoral defeat in November 2022. He is also a member of the Supreme Council 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). He is an ethnic
Malay of mixed
Indian descent.
Before entering Parliament, Reezal worked in the bank sector. Reezal took over
Abdullah as the party's Division Head of Kepala Batas and as 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 se ...
(BN) candidate for the parliamentary seat. Reezal won the seat in the
2013 Malaysian general election
General elections were held in Malaysia on Sunday, 5 May 2013 to elect the members of the 13th Parliament. Voting took place in all 222 parliamentary constituencies, each electing one MP to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. ...
while defeated a candidate from the
Malaysian Islamic Party
The Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS; ms, Parti Islam Se-Malaysia; ms, ڤرتي إسلام سمليسيا, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset) is an Islamist political party in Malaysia. As the party focused on Islamic fundamentalism, PAS's ...
(PAS) by 4,176 majority of the votes.
In October 2013, he was elected to Supreme Council of
UMNO
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 i ...
, the highest-ranking body of the party.
In a Cabinet reshuffle on 28 July 2015, Reezal was handpicked as
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a Cabinet (government), cabinet Minister (government), minister in charge of a sovereign state, state's foreign policy and foreign ...
by former Prime Minister
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 Malaysi ...
. Despite winning the majority to defend his seat in his parliamentary constituency, Reezal lost his Cabinet post following the results of the
2018 Malaysian general election
The 2018 Malaysian General Election, formally known as the 14th Malaysian General Election (), was held on Wednesday, 9 May 2018, for members of the 14th Parliament of Malaysia. At stake were all 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat (the legislature ...
.
Efforts
On 29 August 2015, Reezal intimidated Malaysians participating in the Bersih 4 demonstrations abroad that the Foreign Ministry would gather their information for eventual legal action against them, without even citing which law the citizen abroad violated.
Family
After first wife Ismalina Ismail and second wife Sharifah Norhaslinda which once filed for divorce with Reezal but retracted.
Election results
Honours
* :
**

Knight Companion of the
Order of the Crown of Pahang (DIMP) – Dato' (2006)
**

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 Oc ...
(SSAP) – Dato' Sri (2008)
See also
*
Kepala Batas (federal constituency)
Kepala Batas is a federal constituency in North Seberang Perai District, Penang, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Dewan Rakyat since 1974.
The federal constituency was created in the 1974 redistribution and is mandated to return a sin ...
References
1972 births
Living people
Malaysian people of Malay descent
Malaysian politicians of Indian descent
Malaysian Muslims
United Malays National Organisation politicians
Members of the Dewan Rakyat
21st-century Malaysian politicians
Ministry of Housing and Local Government (Malaysia)
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