Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah (born 1937) is a major Malaysian political figure from the state of Kelantan, and a former Finance Minister. He is an uncle of the current Raja Perempuan (queen) of Kelantan. Tengku is a Malay title usually translated as prince. He is fondly known as Ku Li, derived from the last syllables of Tengku Razaleigh: this is a common kind of contraction in the dialect of Kelantan. He was also the Malaysian Finance Minister during the 1980s.

Early life and education

Razaleigh was born in Kota Bharu to Tengku Hamzah bin Zainal Abidin, who was the last appointed Chief Minister of Kelantan. Razaleigh attended Sultan Ismail College before moving on to the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). However, he could not bear life in a boarding school, and transferred to Anderson School in Ipoh, Perak. He received a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Queen's University of Belfast in 1959 and later continued his studies at Lincoln's Inn. However, upon his father's death, he was forced to return, and never continued his studies. Tan, Chee Khoon & Vasil, Raj (ed., 1984). "Without Fear or Favour", p. 45. Eastern Universities Press. ISBN 967-908-051-X.]

Razaleigh took over the family business, and then joined the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a major Malay political party.

Political career

In the 1969 general election, Razaleigh won the Parliamentary seat of Kelantan Barat. In 1971, he was elected to the UMNO Supreme Council, and was elected as a Vice-President of UMNO in 1975. After Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak's sudden death in 1976, he was appointed as Finance Minister by the new Prime Minister, Hussein Onn. Razaleigh's planning is reputed to have been the main reason the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, of which UMNO is a member, almost totally defeated the opposition Islamic party of PAS in the 1978 general election and the Kelantan state elections of the same year.

When Mahathir bin Mohamad succeeded Hussein Onn as Prime Minister, he declared the election for the Deputy Presidency of UMNO — and thus by extension the Deputy Prime Ministership — was open; he would not support any candidate. Razaleigh joined the fray, and his main opposition was Musa Hitam. [Tan & Vasil, p. 42.] Eventually, Musa won the election with 722 votes to Razaleigh's 517 votes, becoming the new Deputy President and Deputy Prime Minister. [Tan & Vasil, p. 204.] Razaleigh blamed himself for taking "a rather passive stance" and not having a campaign strategy. [Tan & Vasil, p. 112.]

In 1987, Tengku Razaleigh challenged Mahathir. In the election, Dr. Mahathir managed to retain his position. However, UMNO was split into two separate entities as Tengku Razaleigh was left unsatisfied with the result.

The split forced the Malaysian court to declare UMNO as illegal. Shortly after the court ruling, Dr. Mahathir reestablished UMNO as UMNO Baru (New UMNO), though the new UMNO was badly weakened. Tengku Razaleigh at the same time went on his own path and found a new political party called Semangat 46 in 1989. The number 46 refers to the year UMNO was originally founded.

Seven years later, Tengku Razaleigh disbanded Semangat 46 and rejoined UMNO.

In 2004, he announced his interest for the UMNO top post yet again but failed to garner enough nominations to contest the presidency.

Notes and references

Other references

*Kamarudin, Raja Petra (Nov. 9, 2005). [http://www.malaysia-today.net/loonyMY/2005/11/anwar-factor.htm "The Anwar Factor"] . "Malaysia Today".

ee also

* 1988 Malaysian constitutional crisis