Abdullah Ahmad Badawi


Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

(äb`do͞ollä ä`mäd bädä`wē), 1939–, Malaysian government official and politician. A graduate of the Univ. of Malaya (B.A. 1964) and the son of a prominent politician, he held a series of civil service posts, including deputy secretary general (1974–78) in the ministry of culture, youth, and sports, before entering politics. Abdullah was elected to parliament in 1978, and begin his rise in the government and United Malays National Organization (UMNO), serving as education (1984–86), defense (1986–87), and foreign minister (1991–99) and deputy prime minister (1999–2003). In 2003 he succeeded Mahathir bin MohamadMahathir bin Mohamad
, 1925–, Malaysian political leader. A doctor by training, he first entered parliament in 1964 and rose in the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), but lost his seat and was expelled from UMNO in 1969 after criticizing Prime Minister Tunku Abdul
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 as prime minister of Malaysia. Calling for modern and progressive Islamic rule as well as reform, he led the National Front coalition to a landslide victory in the 2004 parliamentary elecitons. In 2008, however, the coalition suffered significant losses, although it retained a majority of the seats. Unhappiness within UMNO with those losses eventually led Abdullah to step down as coalition leader in Mar., 2009, and as prime minister the following month. Najib RazakNajib Razak
or Najib Tun Razak
, 1958–, Malaysian politician. A Malay, he is a member of a prominent political family, the son of Malaysia's second prime minister, Abdul Razak, and the nephew of its third, Hussein Onn.
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 succeeded him in both positions.