Fahmi Fadzil
Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil | |
|---|---|
| فهمي فاضل | |
 | |
| Minister of Communications | |
| Assumed office 12 December 2023 | |
| Monarchs | Abdullah (2022–2024) Ibrahim Iskandar (since 2024) |
| Prime Minister | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Teo Nie Ching |
| Preceded by | Himself (Minister of Communications and Digital) |
| Constituency | Lembah Pantai |
| Minister of Communications and Digital | |
| In office 3 December 2022 – 12 December 2023 | |
| Monarch | Abdullah |
| Prime Minister | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Teo Nie Ching |
| Preceded by | Annuar Musa (Minister of Communications and Multimedia) |
| Succeeded by | Himself (Minister of Communications) Gobind Singh Deo (Minister of Digital) |
| Constituency | Lembah Pantai |
| Information Chief of thePeople's Justice Party | |
| Assumed office 20 July 2022 | |
| President | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Chua Wei Kiat Razeef Rakimin |
| Preceded by | Shamsul Iskandar Md. Akin |
| President of the Kuala Lumpur City F.C. | |
| Assumed office 9 June 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Shahidan Kassim |
| Communications Director of the People's Justice Party | |
| In office 11 September 2013 – 20 July 2022 | |
| President | Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (2013–2018) Anwar Ibrahim (2018–2022) |
| Preceded by | Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad |
| Succeeded by | Lee Chean Chung |
| Member of theMalaysian Parliament forLembah Pantai | |
| Assumed office 9 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Nurul Izzah Anwar (PR–PKR) |
| Majority | 5,598 (2018) 13,912 (2022) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ahmad Fahmi bin Mohamed Fadzil 4 February 1981 Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Political party | People's Justice Party(PKR) (since 2010) |
| Other political affiliations | Pakatan Rakyat(PR) (2010–2015) Pakatan Harapan(PH) (since 2015) |
| Spouse | Azrina Puteri Mohamed Mahyuddin |
| Alma mater | Purdue University |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | fahmifadzil |
| Fahmi FadzilonFacebook Fahmi FadzilonParliament of Malaysia | |
Ahmad Fahmi bin Mohamed Fadzil(Jawi:أحمد فهمي بن محمد فاضل;born 4 February 1981[1]) is aMalaysianpolitician,formeractorandwriterwho has served as theMinister of Communicationsin the Unity Government administration under Prime MinisterAnwar Ibrahimsince December 2023 and[2]theMember of Parliament(MP) forLembah Pantaisince May 2018. He served as theMinister of Communications and Digitalin the PH administration under Prime Minister Anwar from December 2022 to December 2023. He is a member of thePeople's Justice Party(PKR), a component party of the PH coalition and thegovernmentspokesperson. He has also served as Information Chief of PKR since July 2022 and served as Communications Director of PKR from September 2013 to July 2022.[3]
Education
[edit]Fahmi has a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering (BSChE) fromPurdue University,Indiana, USA.
Career
[edit]Prior to formally joining PKR in 2010, Fahmi was a writer, actor[4]and an award-winning theatre performer, and has appeared in shows such as the 2006 TV seriesGol & Gincu(Goalpost and Lipsticks) and interview programThe Fairly Current Show.He was also actively involved in social activism one of which was being part of the Taman Medan Community Arts Project in 2012 which was about addressing racial tensions among young people through performing and visual arts. He also acted as a panellist in the Anti-Cyberbully Awareness Forum, a forum organised by the Universiti Malaya Student Union (UMSU) inUniversiti Malayaon 7 January 2023.
Political career
[edit]Having served asNurul Izzah Anwar's political secretary, Fahmi was chosen as the candidate to succeedNurul Izzah AnwarasPKR's candidate in theLembah Pantaiconstituency while Nurul Izzah was sent to the PKR stronghold ofPermatang Pauh.He subsequently went on and won the seat with a 5,000 plus majority as thePeople's Justice Party (Malaysia)became the largest party in Parliament in the aftermath of GE14. He was then appointed as the Communication Director for the party.
In the 15th General Election, Fahmi successfully defended his seat inLembah Pantaiwith a larger majority albeit with a lower percentage of total votes received.
Minister of Communications and Digital
[edit]Soon after the formation of the unity government led byAnwar Ibrahim,Fahmi was subsequently appointed as the new Minister of Communications and Digital.
During Minister of Communications and Digital, He had blocked a number of news portals and blogs, includingMalaysiaNow,Malaysia Today,and theWee Choo Keongblog, which carried independent news about the government. All of these were blocked without notice. Press protection NGOs and news organizations grew concerned that, during Fahmi's tenure, Malaysia approached the days of the UMNO administration underNajib Razak,which had restricted the public flow of information.[5]
Fahmi had also faced public criticism since taking on his ministerial portfolio. He questioned the findings of a survey on the government's first 100 days and accused social media platforms of deliberately promoting opposition content.[6]
On 24 November 2023, Fahmi said MCMC is not involved in TV Sarawak's (TVS) decision on songs to be used in a state Christmas programme inKuching.[7]
Controversies and issues
[edit]In December 2022, Fahmi Fadzil was criticised for answering a phone call during a press conference.[8]
On 31 March 2023, Fahmi faced criticism from media groups when he characterized theBerita Hariannews article about financial projections as defamatory. He claimed that Berita Harian's Facebook post regarding its news report on the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) had created confusion that escalated into slander. Veteran journalist Johan Jaafar expressed that it was inappropriate for Fahmi Fadzil, in his role as the Communications and Digital Minister, to characterize a report on the OPR byBerita Harianas defamatory.[9]
On 30 July 2023, a picture of Fahmi delivering a speech in a mosque went viral, with the caption claiming he was delivering a political speech. However, Fahmi later clarified that he was simply responding to the kariah's question about the British pop-rock bandThe 1975,which was at the center of a controversy that ultimately led to the cancellation of theGood Vibes Festival2023.[10]On 1 August, Selangor police chief Hussein Omar Khan stated that they have initiated an investigation into the dissemination of a picture allegedly showing Fahmi delivering a political speech.[11][12]
Election results
[edit]| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | P121Lembah Pantai | Fahmi Fadzil(PKR) | 33,313 | 50.24% | Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin(UMNO) | 27,715 | 41.80% | 66,305 | 5,598 | 83.50% | ||
| Fauzi Abu Bakar (PAS) | 5,277 | 7.96% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | Fahmi Fadzil(PKR) | 35,359 | 46.09% | Ramlan Shahean @ Askolani (UMNO) | 21,447 | 27.96% | 76,714 | 13,912 | 75.34% | |||
| Fauzi Abu Bakar (PAS) | 19,098 | 24.60% | ||||||||||
| Noor Asmah Mohd Razalli (PUTRA) | 810 | 1.06% | ||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^"Ahmad Fahmi Mohamed Fadzil".stgpru.sinarharian.my(in Malay).Sinar Harian.Retrieved15 March2024.
- ^"Fahmi Fadzil, engineer-performer-activist turned politician".Malay Mail.7 February 2016.Retrieved14 June2018.
- ^"PKR's Fahmi Fadzil emerges victorious after a neck-and-neck battle with Raja Nong Chik for Lembah Pantai".The Star.10 May 2018.Retrieved14 June2018.
- ^"Fahmi Fadzil".IMDb.Retrieved14 June2018.
- ^Correspondent, Our (27 August 2023)."Critics Fear Malaysia Returning To Dark Days of Press Censorship".asiasentinel.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^"'Police car outside your house': Fahmi vents at critics during live TikTok session ".MalaysiaNow.27 June 2023.
- ^"Fahmi Fadzil says MCMC not involved in Sarawak broadcaster's Christmas song decision".Malay Mail.24 November 2023.
- ^Hariz (7 December 2022).""Not good practice" - M'sians Slam Politicians For Answering Phone Calls During Press Conferences ".worldofbuzz.
- ^"Inappropriate of Fahmi to criticise report on OPR hike, says veteran journalist".The Star.1 April 2023.
- ^"Fahmi considering lawsuit over alleged slander of political speech at Masjid Nurul Yaqin".New Straits Times.1 August 2023.
- ^"Selangor investigating viral pic of Fahmi allegedly delivering political speech in mosque".New Straits Times.1 August 2023.
- ^"Fahmi's speech in mosque: Selangor cops launch probe".Malaysiakini.1 August 2023.
- ^"Malaysia General Election".undiinfo Malaysian Election Data.Malaysiakini.Retrieved4 February2018.Results only available from the2004 election.
- ^"SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE – 14"(in Malay).Election Commission of Malaysia.Archived fromthe originalon 13 September 2020.Retrieved17 May2018.Percentage figures based on total turnout.
- ^"The Star Online GE14".The Star.Retrieved24 May2018.Percentage figures based on total turnout.
External links
[edit]
- Living people
- 1981 births
- Malaysian people of Malay descent
- Malaysian Muslims
- Malaysian television personalities
- Malaysian actor-politicians
- Kuala Lumpur politicians
- Members of the Dewan Rakyat
- People's Justice Party (Malaysia) politicians
- Purdue University College of Engineering alumni
- 21st-century Malaysian politicians