Azmin Ali

Mohamed Azmin bin Ali (Jawi: محمد عزمين بن علي; born 25 August 1964) is a Malaysian politician who is the current Leader of the Opposition of Selangor and member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly for Hulu Kelang since August 2023.

Mohamed Azmin Ali was born on 25 August 1964 in Singapore (then a state of Malaysia) to Ali and Che Tom Yahaya.

His father worked for the British Army as a clerk.

Shortly after the separation, his family later moved to Kuala Lumpur.

He began his education at Gurney Road Primary School, then Setapak High School, and ended it at Jalan Cheras Technical Institute.

He studied at the University of Minnesota before earning a degree in economics and mathematics, and later continued his master's degree.

During his study, he was actively involved in student politics.

He received Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Minnesota.

He later completed his Master of Education's degree (MEd) from the same institute where he met Shamsidar Taharin, his future wife.

While studying, Azmin taught modern and additional mathematics.

One of his notable students was Razali Ibrahim, a former deputy minister, when they were in MRSM Terendak.

He also attended an executive training programme at the University of Oxford.

In 1987, following advice from the Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Azmin started working for Anwar Ibrahim, who was then a Minister in Mahathir's Barisan Nasional government.

Azmin served as Anwar's personal secretary through Anwar's appointment as Deputy Prime Minister in 1993 and until Mahathir sacked Anwar in 1998.

Azmin remained close to Anwar following the dismissal and they both became founders of the opposition Parti Keadilan Nasional (KeADILan), which later became the People's Justice Party or Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Azmin's political career began after he won the Hulu Kelang state assembly seat in the 1999 election.

Keadilan entered the 1999 general elections amidst voter anger over Anwar's dismissal and subsequent imprisonment.

Azmin was elected Selangor State Assemblyman for Hulu Kelang.

However, he was barred from participating in the 2004 general elections due to his conviction for lying in court during the trial against Anwar.

He was unable to defend the seat in the 2004 election after being barred for allegedly lying in court during the trial against Anwar.

The High Court and Court of Appeal have since acquitted him.

Formerly a member of the Malaysian Parliament for Gombak from 2008 to 2022, Azmin served in the cabinets of Muhyiddin Yassin and Ismail Sabri Yaakob as Senior Minister of the Economic Cluster and Minister of International Trade and Industry from 2020 to 2022.

A member of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU), which is a component party of Perikatan Nasional coalition, Azmin also served as a member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly for Bukit Antarabangsa from 2008 to 2023.

Azmin returned to national politics in the 2008 general elections, winning the Gombak parliamentary seat and Bukit Antarabangsa state seat in Selangor.

Khalid had been the Menteri Besar since the coalition of PKR, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) won a majority in the Selangor State Assembly in the 2008 election.

Meanwhile, in 2010, he won an internal PKR election for the party's deputy presidency.

He replaced Syed Husin, who did not seek re-election.

In the 2013 general elections and 2018 general elections he managed to clinch both seats again.

He lost the Gombak seat in the 2022 election.

He did not contest the Bukit Antarabangsa state seat in the 2023 Selangor state election and instead contest the Hulu Kelang state seat, which he won.

Azmin became the Menteri Besar of Selangor on 23 September 2014, following the resignation of the PKR incumbent Khalid Ibrahim.

His ascension to the post followed months of internal political wrangling within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition that led the state.

In early 2014, PKR's national leader, Anwar Ibrahim, then a federal parliamentarian sought to contest the Selangor State Assembly seat of Kajang in a by-election.

The so-called "Kajang Move" would have allowed Anwar to oust Khalid as Menteri Besar with PKR's support.

However, after Anwar's conviction for sodomy weeks before the by-election, his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail assumed PKR's nomination for the by-election in his place and won the seat.

Khalid resigned as Menteri Besar after PKR withdrew its support for his leadership later in the year.

PKR, with the DAP's support, nominated Wan Azizah to replace him, but both the Sultan of Selangor (who appoints the Menteri Besar) and the third coalition party, PAS, sought other options.

The Sultan requested that each coalition party submit three names for his consideration.

PKR and the DAP submitted only Wan Azizah's name, while PAS submitted others.

He was reelected as the party's deputy president in 2018 after a close election against Rafizi Ramli.