Abdul Aziz Bari | |
|---|---|
| عبد العزيز باري | |
 Abdul Aziz Bari | |
| StateLeader of the Opposition ofPerak | |
| In office 9 May 2020 – 21 November 2022 | |
| Monarch | Nazrin Shah |
| Menteri Besar | Ahmad Faizal Azumu (May–December 2020) Saarani Mohamad (2020–2022) |
| Preceded by | Saarani Mohamad |
| Succeeded by | Razman Zakaria |
| Constituency | Tebing Tinggi |
| Member of thePerak State Legislative Assembly forTebing Tinggi | |
| Assumed office 9 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Ong Boon Piow (PH–DAP) |
| Majority | 3,927 (2018) 660 (2022) |
| Member of the Perak State Executive Council | |
| 2018–2020 | Chairman of the Education, Science, Environment, Green Technology and Information |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Abdul Aziz bin Bari (1959-08-22)22 August 1959 (age 66) |
| Political party | People's Justice Party (PKR) (2013–2015) Democratic Action Party (DAP) (since 2015) |
| Other political affiliations | Pakatan Rakyat (PR) (2013–2015) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2015) |
| Alma mater | Universiti Teknologi MARA (DPA) International Islamic University Malaysia (LLB) University of Nottingham (LLM) University of Birmingham (PhD) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession |
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| Website | Abdul Aziz Bari onFacebook |
Abdul Aziz Bari (born 22 August 1959) is a Malaysian politician, academic, professor and lecturer who has served as Member of thePerak State Legislative Assembly (MLA) forTebing Tinggi since May 2018. He served as StateLeader of the Opposition ofPerak from May 2020 to November 2022 and Member of thePerak State Executive Council (EXCO) in thePakatan Harapan (PH) state administration under former Menteri BesarAhmad Faizal Azumu from May 2018 to the collapse of the PH state administration in March 2020. He is a member and State Vice Chairman of Perak of theDemocratic Action Party (DAP), a component party of the PH coalition and was a member of thePeople's Justice Party (PKR), a component party of formerly thePakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition.[1]
Aziz was born inSabak Bernam[2] and resides in Bandar Baru Selayang,Selangor.[3]
Aziz is a former member of academia and lecturer in the field of law. He served in theInternational Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) as well asUniversity of Selangor (UNISEL).[4] He is notable in Malaysianmonarchy and constitutional law.[5]
Whilst serving as a lecturer in IIUM he was suspended[6] for his observations on statements of theSultan of Selangor in a much controversial publicised action by Muslim religious authorities against a Methodist church for proselytization.[7] He was also a subject of investigation by authorities when he commented on the appointment of the Selangor Chief Minister being a prerogative of the Sultan of Selangor[8] whilst still serving as a lecturer in UNISEL.
Aziz for the first time stood in the2013 general election (GE13) asPeople's Justice Party (PKR) candidate for theSabak Bernam parliamentary seat contesting against Mohd Fasiah Fakeh fromUnited Malays National Organisation (UMNO) ofBarisan Nasional (BN). He lost by 1644 votes from the 31,697 polled.[9][10][11]
He subsequently revived his political ambitions by joining theDemocratic Action Party (DAP) in 2015.[12] He stood as a candidate in the Perak state assembly seat of Tebing Tinggi[13][14] in the2018 general election (GE14). He won the seat againstMalaysian Chinese Association (MCA)'s Khoo Boon Chuan andPan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)'s Mazlan Md Isa with a majority of 3,927 votes against the closest challenger Khoo.[15] He retained the seat and was reelected as the Tebing Tinggi MLA with a smaller majority of only 660 votes in the2022 Perak state election.
Aziz was appointed the EXCO Chairman for Education, Environment, Green Technology & Information in thePakatan Harapan (PH) new state government until its collapse due to thepolitical crisis in 2020.[16] On 9 May 2020, he was chosen as the new Opposition Leader of Perak.[17] He relinquished the position following the return of PH to the state government of Perak on 21 November 2022 following the 2022 Perak state election. He was replaced byRazman Zakaria,Gunong Semanggol MLA fromPerikatan Nasional (PN) that became the new state opposition coalition after the formation of theBarisan Nasional (BN) and PH state coalition government.
Aziz is often quoted based on his knowledge of the law, but he has also been known to give his personal opinion on matters,[18] including quotes that often put him at odds with religious movements and leaders.[19] In the leadup to the GE14, he publicly stated that PAS should not even dream of being in government.[20] In 2015, he commented that the Crown Prince of Johor,Tunku Ismail Idris should be investigated on charges of sedition, responding to social media posting by the Crown Prince on Johor's right to separate from Malaysia.[21]
None was as controversial as his earlier comments in 2011, when he commented on the Sultan of Selangor's defense of Muslim religious officials raiding aMethodist church. That resulted in his suspension as a law lecturer in IIUM, and then reinstatement upon widespread protests by students. However, he subsequently chose to resign from his position at IIUM.[22]
His outspoken views also often put him in trouble with the law, and he was probed further for illegal assembly in 2014[23] as well as a sedition probe.[24] His comments on the right to criticise the monarchy remain one of his most controversial statements.[25]
On 20 October 2011, Aziz was issued a show cause letter by IIUM and suspended from work[26] 'to facilitate investigations' as announced by the rector of IIUM, Zaleha Kamaruddin. She also clarified that his suspension was not without pay, and his rights to associate himself with the faculty remained open despite rumours against it. In the course of his suspension, other politicians clamoured for his resignation, includingMember of Parliament (MP) ofKulim-Bandar Baharu,Zulkifli Noordin, which resulted in a lawsuit against the MP and the Malay newspaperUtusan Malaysia by Aziz.[27]
His main contention and comments that under theSedition Act 1948 saying that the rights in the constitution allows anyone to criticize the monarchy, and that the right cannot be denied.[clarification needed][28]
While lecturing in UNISEL, Aziz was probed for sedition arising from an online newsportal reportSultan Selangor terikat Deklarasi 1992, perlu lantik Wan Azizah, kata Aziz Bari andOnly God, not Sultan, has absolute powers.[29] This resulted in almost 100 police reports made against Aziz, and he was then investigated by the police. He responded by remaining silent during investigations.[30]
This purportedly arose from underlying currents in the 14th State Assembly sitting of thePerak State Legislative Assembly, whichKota Tampan State Assemblyman Saarani Mohamad referred to when he made a statement to the media that the MB of the seatingAhmad Faizal Azumu would face a vote of no confidence led by State EXCO member Aziz Bari.[31] DAP MP forBatu GajahSivakumar Varatharaju, in a response to the initial media statement, lodged a police report citing the MalaysianPenal Code at the Dang Wangi Police Station.[32] Other responses included one from fellow Perak State EXCO memberSivanesan Achalingam who claimed that UMNO was 'daydreaming'.[33] With one day to the end of the 4th meeting of the 14th session of the state assembly, Aziz denied the claims by stating that he would never have achieved anything, citing only getting 18 votes of support from his party, whereas as claimed, another further five from UMNO and would still be short seven votes.[31] The talk of the purported vote of no confidence first emerged in mid-August when State Public Accounts Committee ChairmanAbdul Yunus Jamahri publicly stated that it was mere speculation by the opposition.[34]
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | P092Sabak Bernam | Abdul Aziz Bari (PKR) | 14,620 | 46.96% | Mohd Fasiah Mohd Fakeh (UMNO) | 16,510 | 53.04% | 31,859 | 1,890 | 85.37% | ||
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | N26Tebing Tinggi | Abdul Aziz Bari (DAP) | 10,334 | 49.99% | Tony Khoo Boon Chuan (MCA) | 6,407 | 30.99% | 21,094 | 3,927 | 81.00% | ||
| Mazlan Md Isa (PAS) | 3,931 | 19.02% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | Abdul Aziz Bari (DAP) | 11,286 | 40.58% | Mohammad Iskandar Abdul Rahman (BERSATU) | 10,626 | 38.21% | 27,811 | 660 | 74.71% | |||
| Tony Khoo Boon Chuan (MCA) | 5,705 | 20.51% | ||||||||||
| Mior Haidir (PEJUANG) | 194 | 0.70% | ||||||||||
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