Shahrir Abdul Samad

Shahrir bin Abdul Samad (Jawi: شهریار بن عبدالصمد; born 22 November 1949) is a Malaysian politician who was the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (2008-2009), a Member of Parliament of Malaysia and the former chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC).

He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest political component party in the former ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

In Parliament – specifically the lower house of Parliament of Malaysia, the Dewan Rakyat – he represented the constituency of Johor Bahru in the state of Johor for six non-consecutive terms.

In 1973 he became the youngest political secretary in the country when he became political secretary to Musa Hitam, later Deputy Prime Minister.

After his tenure expired in 1975, he became political secretary to Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak till 1976.

(1978-1990, 2004–2018).

Khalid Abdul Samad, the former minister of the Federal Territories & the member of Parliament for Shah Alam, Selangor from the National Trust Party (Amanah) of Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition; is the younger brother of Shahrir.

Shahrir first ran for public office in the 1978 general election, when he won the Parliamentary seat of Johor Bahru.

He also served as political secretary to Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn from 1983 to 1986.

He was initially appointed Deputy Minister, of Trade and Industry, but later became Minister of Welfare, Youth and Sports, and in 1987 took up the post of Federal Territory Minister.

Shahrir was sacked that year in the events leading up to the 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's challenge to Prime Minister and UMNO President Mahathir Mohamad.

In 1988, Shahrir resigned from his Parliamentary seat, and ran for re-election in the resulting by-election as an independent.

A year later, he rejoined UMNO, while Razaleigh went on to form Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46).

He subsequently was dropped as UMNO candidate in the 1990, 1995 and 1999 general elections.

In 2004, he returned to run for 11th general election in Johor Bahru on a BN-UMNO ticket, and won.

He later claimed that then Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had offered him a post in the Cabinet, but declined, citing the large number of qualified MPs. Instead, he went on to chair the Public Accounts Committee in the Dewan Rakyat.

He was linked to the Generasi Profesional dan Pewaris Bangsa (PROWARIS), an NGO aligned with the ex-prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed.

On 4 May 2006, Shahrir announced his resignation as chairman of the Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club (BNBBC).

Earlier that day, Parliament had been discussing the issue of a member of parliament (MP) who allegedly asked the Melaka Customs and Excise Department to "close one eye" to an illegal import shipment of timber.

Lim Kit Siang of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Leader of the Opposition moved a motion to refer the MP in question to the Dewan Rakyat House Committee of Rights and Privileges.

Several BN MPs quickly voiced their disagreement with the motion, but Shahrir – according to one source – "shocked the House" when he stood and spoke in favour of the motion in order "to maintain the integrity of parliamentarians and Parliament".

The motion was eventually rejected – in line with the BN policy of not supporting motions moved by the opposition – by the House.

Shahrir walked out of the House and held a press conference in the Parliament lobby, telling reporters that "Even though it was an Opposition motion, we should support it for its importance to MPs and the House."

He then announced his resignation as the Chairman of the BNBBC.

The Deputy chairman, Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar, later told reporters he would attempt to persuade Shahrir to stay on.

After an emergency meeting, the BNBBC also announced they would ask Shahrir to stay on.

In the meantime, the MP for Jasin, Mohammad Said Yusof, said he was the MP implicated in the matter.

However, he insisted he had only asked for leniency on the grounds that the timber had been found to be illegal due to a technicality.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Parliamentary Affairs, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz, said that "It is not that we disagree with Shahrir but it's an opposition motion and we usually reject their motions."

He also told the press that the House Rights and Privileges Committee could not have an unnamed MP referred to it on the basis of a newspaper report.

Nazri said that the Customs chief would have to complain to the Speaker and name the MP in question.

Later that week, Shahrir met with then Deputy Prime Minister and BN Chief Whip, Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak to officially submit his resignation.

While Najib accepted it, it was not immediately clear if he would initiate disciplinary action against Shahrir for breaking ranks with the party.

Shahrir initially insisted that "This is not a party matter," but later told the press that he resigned "as I had breached the party's directive against supporting an Opposition motion."

Later, several backbenchers demanded that Shahrir's resignation be rescinded.

The BNBBC secretary, Rosli Mat Hassan (MP for Dungun) issued a statement on the behalf of other backbenchers where he declared, "the unwritten rule that presently [makes] it mandatory for BN MPs to oppose any opposition motion regardless of merit [runs] counter to basic parliamentary practice and [infringes] on the duties of MPs".

He was appointed as the chairman of Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) from 1 January 2017 to 14 May 2018.

Shahrir was born in Kuantan, Pahang, and attended local primary schools.

He later attended the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) for his secondary education.

He went on to gain an economics degree from the University of Malaya in Statistics, and a Master of Business Administration from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland.