Shahrizat Abdul Jalil

Infobox_Politician
honorific-prefix = Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri
name = Shahrizat Abdul Jalil
width =
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birth_date =
birth_place = Penang
residence =
death_date =
death_place =
office = Malaysian Minister of Women, Family and Community Developmment
term_start = 2001
term_end = 8 March 2008
predecessor = "Post created"
successor = Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen
constituency =
office2 = Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai
term_start2 =1995
term_end2 = 8 March 2008
predecessor2 = "Unknown"
successor2 = Nurul Izzah Anwar
constituency2 =
office3 = Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Women and Social Development Affairs
term_start3 = March 18 2008
term_end3 =
predecessor3 = "post created"
successor3 =
constituency3 =
party = United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) part of Barisan Nasional
religion = Islam
occupation = Lawyer
majority =
relations =
spouse =
civil partner =
children =
website =
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Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (born 1953) is a Malaysian politician from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a member of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition. She is the former Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai the former Minister for Women, Family and Community Development in the Malaysian cabinet.

Shahrizat became the first Minister for Women and Family Development when the ministry was created by the then Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed in 2001. Later, when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister, he revamped the ministry and renamed it to Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development.

She was also acting Federal Territories Minister from 16 October 2005 until 16 February 2005, when fellow UMNO member, Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad had to step down from the post after being found guilty of corruption charges. Datuk Seri Zulhasnan Rafique was later chosen to fill the post.

Shahrizat is currently the deputy head of the Wanita (Women's) wing in UMNO, which is part of the ruling national coalition, Barisan Nasional.

Shahrizat has been the Member of Parliament for the Lembah Pantai constituency in Kuala Lumpur for the past 3 terms since 1995. Housing squatters in Lembah Pantai under her leadership has been Barisan Nasional’s trump card. To date, some 90% of squatters in Lembah Pantai have been resettled and allowed to purchase their homes, says Shahrizat. When Shahrizat first became the area’s MP in 1995, the problem of the day was squatters as well as other concerns, such as floods, fire, garbage collection, street lamps, and children’s scholarships. Nevertheless, some have disputed her contribution to the development seen in the constituency, with most development being private sector driven initiatives, or projects under the Kuala Lumpur City Hall, which is unrelated to her position as an MP. [ [http://thestar.com.my/election/story.asp?file=/2008/3/2/election2008/20474670&sec=Election2008 New dimension to urban voting] , The Star, March 2, 2008.] At the same time, many have characterised these federal government-funded development projects as vote buying measures, especially in wooing the urban poor in the Pantai Dalam area.

In an upset during the 12th Malaysian general election which was held on 8 March 2008, Lembah Pantai constituents rejected UMNO and Shahrizat as their elected representative, to a 27-year old newcomer, Nurul Izzah Anwar, daughter of PKR "de facto" leader, Anwar Ibrahim. During the 10th Malaysian general election, Shahrizat narrowly defeated Zainur Zakaria. The counting of votes was frought with controversy, and Shahrizat won after a recount was conducted.

In a face saving gesture to the Wanita UMNO wing, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi appointed Shahrizat as Special Adviser to the Prime Minister for Women and Social Development Affairs on March 18, 2008, recognising that this wing was not represented in his cabinet. [ [http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/19/nation/20689036&sec=nation Shahrizat made Special Adviser] , The Star, March 19, 2008.] It said she would be working closely with the ministry she had once served. The special adviser position carries with it ministerial status whereby she gets access to information and is provided with an office and secretaries like a full Cabinet minister. However, she cannot attend Cabinet meetings.

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