Dato' Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (born 4 January 1953) is a Malaysian politician,the current Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia and the Minister of Home Affairs in the Barisan Nasional coalition government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.He is also the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Bagan Datoh constituency in Perak and a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) political party.
He previously was the country's Defence Minister[1] while early in his political career, Zahid was a Senator and chairman of Bank Simpanan Nasional[2] before becoming the head of UMNO's youth wing.[3] In 1998, Zahid spoke out against Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, calling for an end to cronyism and nepotism in the Malaysian government.[4] Zahid, seen as an ally of deposed Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, was subsequently arrested and held in prison under the Internal Security Act.[5] However, in 1999, Zahid was welcomed back into the UMNO fold,[6] stating that Anwar had put him up to raising allegations of cronyism and nepotism and alleging that Anwar had used his position as Finance Minister to direct business opportunities to Zahid.[7]
After the 2004 election, Zahid became a Deputy Minister in the government of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.[8] While a Deputy Minister, Zahid studied for and was conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Universiti Putra Malaysia.[9]
After the 2008 election, Zahid became a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department.[10] He was appointed Minister of Defence in April 2009.[11] Then,Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was appointed as the Minister of Home Affairs replacing Hishamuddin Hussein. Hishamuddin took Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's previous position as the Ministry of Defense.[12]
In 2015, he is appointed to be the country 10th Deputy Prime Minister in a cabinet reshuffle
