Wan Mokhtar Ahmad

Wan Mokhtar Wan Ahmad
وان مختار وان أحمد
10th Menteri Besar of Terengganu
In office
1 September 1974 – 2 December 1999
MonarchsIsmail Nasiruddin
Mahmud
Mizan Zainal Abidin
Preceded byNik Hassan Wan Abdul Rahman (UMNO)
Succeeded byAbdul Hadi Awang (PAS)
Member of the Malaysian Parliament
for Kemaman
In office
25 April 1964 – 23 August 1974
Preceded byWan Yahya Wan Mohamed
Succeeded byWan Abdul Kadir Ismail
Member of the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly
for Cukai
In office
24 August 1974 – 29 November 1999
Malaysian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia
In office
23 November 2000 – 1 June 2005
MonarchSirajuddin
Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad
(2000–03)
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003–05)
Preceded byShapi Abu Samah
Succeeded byIsmail Ibrahim
Personal details
Born
Wan Mokhtar bin Wan Ahmad

21 March 1932
Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Unfederated Malay States, British Malaya (now Malaysia)
Died21 September 2020(2020-09-21) (aged 88)
Prince Court Medical Centre, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur
Resting placeSection 21 Muslim Cemetery, Shah Alam, Selangor
Political partyUnited Malays National Organisation (UMNO)
Other political
affiliations
Alliance Party
Barisan Nasional (BN)
Spouse
Aishahtun Mohd Fadlullah Suhaimi
(died 2018)
Children5
Alma materAl-Azhar University

Wan Mokhtar bin Wan Ahmad (21 March 1932 – 21 September 2020) was a Malaysian politician who served as the 11th Menteri Besar of Terengganu. In office for 25 years, he was the longest-serving head of the Terengganu state government (1974 - 1999). He also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Kemaman (1964 - 1974) and Member of the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Cukai (1974 - 1999).[1]

Wan Mokhtar was a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in the then-ruling Alliance and Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He was an ally of the similarly longest-serving Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. In 1987, he was elected the vice-president of UMNO, alongside Anwar Ibrahim, under Mahathir's running team.[2]

His political prominence in the state came to an end in the 1999 state election, when the then-opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) ousted the Barisan Nasional (BN) state government with a landslide victory. He also lost his Chukai state seat then.[3] He was then appointed as the Malaysian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2000 to 2005.[1]

  1. ^ a b "Terengganu people will remember Wan Mokhtar for his services". Malay Mail. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  2. ^ Sankaran Ramanathan; Mohd Hamdan Adnan (1988). Malaysia's 1986 General Election: The Urban-rural Dichotomy. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 77.
  3. ^ "Wan Mokhtar says he is not solely to blame for defeat". New Straits Times. 4 December 1999. p. 4. Retrieved 25 October 2014.