Abdul Rahman Dahlan

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Dahlan is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Abdul Rahman.
Yang Berbahagia Datuk Seri Panglima Haji
Abdul Rahman Dahlan
SPDK PGDK SMW DIMP ADK
عبدالرحمن دحلان‎
Abdul Rahman in 2014
Ministerial roles
2013–2016Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government
2016–2018Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
Faction represented in Dewan Rakyat
2008–2018Barisan Nasional
Other roles
2021–Chair of board of directors of Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Personal details
Born
Abdul Rahman bin Dahlan

(1965-11-24) 24 November 1965 (age 58)
Sabah, Malaysia
Political partyUnited Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Other political
affiliations		Barisan Nasional (BN)
Perikatan Nasional (PN)
Muafakat Nasional (MN)
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1999)​
Datin Seri Vie Shantie Haroon Khan
​
​
(m. 2019)​
ChildrenKencana Putera
Karisma Putera
Kaseh Raina
Vie Raissa
Alma materSonoma State University
OccupationPolitician

Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Abdul Rahman bin Dahlan (Jawi: عبدالرحمن بن دحلان; born 24 November 1965) is a Malaysian politician. He is the former Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and the Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government. He had served as the Member of Parliament (MP) of Malaysia for the Kota Belud constituency in Sabah from 2008 to 2018. He is a member and Division Chief of Tuaran of the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO) party, a component of Barisan Nasional (BN).[1]

Abdul Rahman was elected to Parliament in the 2008 general election for the UMNO-held seat of Kota Belud,[2] after UMNO dropped its incumbent member Salleh Said Keruak.[3] Before his election he was a party official for UMNO.[4]

On 16 May 2013, after the 2013 general elections he was appointed Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government under the cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Razak.[5] On 28 June 2016, he was appointed to be the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of Economic Planning Unit. He was the first Sabahan to hold the EPU position.

In 2018, he was widely acknowledged as the person entrusted by the Prime Minister to secure Saudi Aramco's US$7 billion investment in Malaysia.[6]

In the 2018 general elections, Abdul Rahman had switched to contest the Sepanggar parliamentary seat but had lost to Azis Jamman of Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN).[7]

Most people attributed his loss in Sepanggar to an incorrect strategy by the party top leadership, knowing that Abdul Rahman was still hugely popular in Kota Belud constituency which he had represented for 10 years. Despite Abdul Rahman's strong objection, the party went ahead with the decision to put him as a candidate in Sepanggar. In the end, the instruction for him to switch to Sepanggar, a new constituency for him, barely 3 months before the parliamentary general election in 2018 was proven flawed and disastrous for the party. UMNO lost both in Sepanggar and Kota Belud parliamentary seats, the latter because of voters’ anger towards UMNO for issuing instruction to Abdul Rahman to contest in Sepanggar.

In January 2021, Abdul Rahman was appointed the Chairman of Board of Directors, Universiti Malaysia Sabah for a period of three years. He pledged to solve the construction delays afflicting the university's teaching hospital and the students housing projects.[8]

  1. ^ "Abdul Rahman bin Haji Dahlan, Y.B. Dato' Haji". Parliament of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
  2. ^ "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout (including votes for candidates not listed).
  3. ^ "Amir Kahar, Salleh axed but 'controversial' Bung included in Umno list". The Star. Star Publications (Malaysia). 22 February 2008. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  4. ^ "Sabah Umno's new faces vow to work hard". Daily Express (Malaysia). 22 February 2008. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Full minister a big responsibility – Abdul Rahman". The Borneo Post. 16 May 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  6. ^ ADNAN, VEENA BABULAL and AHMAD SUHAEL (28 February 2018). "Saudi Aramco to invest US$7b in Malaysia | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  7. ^ Kristy Inus (10 May 2018). "Rahman loses Sepanggar, congratulates Azis Jamman via Twitter". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  8. ^ Hasan, Che Hasruddin Che (5 March 2021). "UMS Hospital to start ops next year". ums.edu.my. Retrieved 18 May 2021.