Badawi, Abdullah Ahmad (1939– )

Malaysian politician, prime minister from 2003. A close ally of his predecessor Mahathir bin Muhammad, he was foreign minister 1991–99 and home affairs minister from 1999 before succeeding Mahathir as prime minister in 2003 and party president in 2004. He was vice-president of the ruling United Malays National Organization (UMNO) for much of the period 1984–2003. As prime minister, he launched a drive against corruption, promoted a vision of moderate Islam, and declared an end to ambitious infrastructure projects as had been favoured by Mahathir.

He secured a landslide victory for UMNO in the 2004 general election, winning 90% of the seats. But support fell in the March 2008 general election and the ruling party won only 63% of the seats in parliament. He faced growing opposition within UMNO from supporters of Mahathir, who resigned from UMNO in May 2008 because he had lost confidence in Abdullah, and from Mahathir's son, Mokhzani Mahathir.

Abdullah was born in Penang state; his father was a founding member of UMNO and a locally prominent Muslim. Prior to his election to parliament in 1978, Abdullah was a civil servant. He was elected UMNO vice-president in 1984 and was education minister 1984–86; he was then defence minister before being dropped from the cabinet in 1987 when he sided with commerce and finance minister Razaleigh Hamzah, who challenged Mahathir for the party's leadership and split the UMNO. In 1988 Abdullah returned to the UMNO fold, professing his loyalty to Mahathir and became foreign minister in 1991 and deputy prime minister and home affairs minister in 1999. He was temporarily dethroned as party vice-president 1993–96 by an anti-Mahathir group aligned with Mahathir's rival Anwar Ibrahim.