Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi (born 26 November 1939 in Kepala Batas, Penang) is the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Prime Minister Badawi is also the President of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the largest political party in Malaysia, and leads the governing Barisan Nasional Parliamentary coalition. He is informally known as Pak Lah or Mr Clean. He succeeded Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad.

After Mahathir sacked Anwar Ibrahim he appointed Abdullah, originally politically exiled after clashing with Mahathir in an internal UMNO dispute during the 1980s, Deputy Prime Minister. Abdullah succeeded Mahathir as Prime Minister in 2003. Abdullah's administration has been characterized by controversies concerning the independence of Parliament and the reduction of fuel subsidies. Although Abdullah initially pledged to eradicate political corruption, which some critics felt had plagued Mahathir's premiership, it has been argued that after Abdullah's victory in the 2004 general election, progress in fighting corruption and cronyism significantly eroded.

In 2005 Mahathir began challenging Abdullah on a number of issues, such as the protection of Proton, the flagship national car manufacturer, and the distribution of approved permits for importing foreign-manufactured vehicles. Later in 2006, Mahathir asserted that Abdullah had betrayed his trust, citing the projects and policies which Mahathir introduced but Abdullah scrapped, such as the construction of a bridge linking Malaysia and Singapore which would replace the existing causeway.

Early political career

Abdullah was born to a prominent religious family. His father, Ahmad Badawi, was a prominent religious figure and UMNO member.

Abdullah is a former student of Bukit Mertajam High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies from the University of Malaya in 1964, having originally wished to pursue a degree in Economics but failing to meet the required standard after failing his statistics paper.

After graduation, he joined the Malaysian Administrative and Diplomatic Corps (the formal term for the civil service). He served as Director of Youth at the Ministry of Youth and Sport as well as secretary of the National Emergency Council (MAGERAN). He resigned in 1978 to become the member of parliament for his constituency of Kepala Batas in northern Seberang Perai (which had also been represented by his late father), which he still represents today.

Early during Mahathir's tenure as prime minister, a bitter dispute erupted within the ruling UMNO party and it was divided into two camps, which were colloquially known as 'Team A' comprising Mahathir loyalists, and 'Team B', which supported former Minister of Finance Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam. Mahathir prevailed, leading to the exclusion of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah from the newly-established UMNO (Baru) or New UMNO. Abdullah was a close supporter of his political mentor Musa Hitam in Team B and as a result, he was sacked from his post of Minister of Defence in the cabinet. He did not join Semangat 46 (Spirit 46) party which was setted up by Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. Semangat 46 is now defunct.

He was rehabilitated in 1993 after winning the UMNO Vice Presidency and was given the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. Prior to 1998, he had also served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Minister of Youth and Sports, Minister of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs. His rehabilitation was completed when he was appointed deputy prime minister and Minister for Home Affairs following the dismissal of Anwar Ibrahim. As Minister of Home Affairs, Abdullah used his powers to rescind the ban on the Iban language Bible.

Premiership

Since coming into power as prime minister, Abdullah has promised to clamp down on corruption, giving more power to anti-corruption agencies and making it easier for the public to reveal corrupt practices to the authorities. He has also arrested several public figures from the Mahathir era on charges of corruption, a move which was widely applauded by the public. He has advocated an interpretation of Islam known as Islam Hadhari, which maintains that Islam and economic and technological development are not incompatible. Apart from that, his administration has been emphasizing a revival of the Malaysian agricultural sector

The eleventh 2004 general election, Abdullah's first election as the incumbent prime minister, he delivered a stunning victory for his party's coalition Barisan Nasional (of which UMNO is the dominant party) by winning 198 out of 220 seats in parliament, and wrested control of the Terengganu state government back from the Islamist opposition Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS), as well as coming close to capturing the traditional PAS stronghold of Kelantan. The victory was widely regarded as an approval of his vision of moderate Islam over religious fundamentalism, and support for his anti-corruption policies.

In September 2004, upon his release from prison, Anwar Ibrahim, the former deputy prime minister jailed since 1999 by former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad, publicly credited Abdullah for not interfering with the judiciary's overturning of his sodomy conviction.

On September 10, 2004, Abdullah, as finance minister, tabled his maiden budget, which is seen by the public as being more consolidation and maintenance-oriented as opposed to the growth policies emphasised by Mahathir.

Abdullah is also known for stressing on Malaysia's internal security, after witnessing an increase in corruptive practices, such as bribery in the police force.

Abdullah is unofficially known in Malay circles in Malaysia as Pak Lah (Malay diminutive for "Uncle Abdullah"). The Malaysian government has issued a statement that the prime minister should not be referred to by this nickname in official articles and in newsprint; however, the nickname is still used informally. In fact, Abdullah himself often uses the nickname to refer to himself in public gatherings.

Abdullah continues to be heavily involved in foreign policy. He is the chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, since he became prime minister in 2003. As of 2005, he is also the chairman of ASEAN. He also served as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement from October 2003 until September 2006.

On October 20, 2005, Abdullah's wife, Endon Mahmood, died after a long battle with breast cancer. She passed away at 7.55am. Endon discovered she had breast cancer in 2003 while her twin sister Noraini who had earlier been diagnosed with the disease died in January 2003. She received treatment in the United States and returned to Malaysia 18 days before her death. She is buried at the Muslim cemetery, at Taman Selatan, Precinct 20, Putrajaya.

Concerning the giving up of North Korea´s nuclear weapon and missile tests he is sceptical because they are something precious to the country. It will be very difficult to stop these actions.

Abdullah is also a well known Polyphasic Sleeper, known to follow a rigid schedule of sleeping through Cabinet meetings, important briefings, assemblies and ritually before and after meals. Badawi has honed the art of Polyphasic sleeping, enabling him to extend this state of mind and body for several hours during each session.

Economic Policies

During the 57th UMNO General Assembly, Abdullah declared an end to the economic legacy and grandiose projects of his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He told delegates that he will not pursue the economic strategies adopted two decades ago by Dr Mahathir.

He said in the past, wealth was generated not by innovation and creativity, but by foreign investment, government contracts and privatisation. "Now the era is gone," he said.

Agriculture and biotechnology are some of the highlighted issues in 9MP that the government believes such sectors are still able to generate wealth for many Malaysians, especially those in rural areas.

Under the Mahathir era, the country turned rapidly from an agriculture base economy to an industrialised and manufacturing base. As a result of the turnover, agriculture was sidelined and mega-projects such as Perwaja Steel manufacturing and Bakun dam were mishandled and failed. Petronas which see itself as the most profitable company announced every year should be able to purchase the falling National car company Proton and MAS airlines.

Under the Abdullah administration, the country is moving up to a value chain economy by developing its inherent strengths in agriculture without losing its existing manufacturing base.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdullah_Ahmad_Badawi