Che Zakaria bin Mohd Salleh is a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regard ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as Member of the

Johor State Legislative Assembly The Johor State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Negeri Johor) is the unicameral legislature of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is composed of 56 members who are elected from single-member constituencies throughout the state. Elections are hel ...

(MLA) for Permas from May 2018 to March 2022. He is a member of the National Trust Party (AMANAH), a component party of the

Pakatan Harapan The Alliance of Hope ( ms, Pakatan Harapan; abbrev: PH; stylized as HARAPAN) is a Malaysian political coalition consisting of centre-left political parties which was formed in 2015 to succeed the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. It has been the r ...

(PH) coalition. He was a member of the

Malaysian United Indigenous Party The Malaysian United Indigenous Party ( ms, Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia), abbreviated BERSATU or PPBM, is a nationalist political party in Malaysia. The party was preceded by the United Indigenous Association of Malaysia (). It is a major c ...

(BERSATU), a component party of the

Perikatan Nasional The National Alliance ( ms, Perikatan Nasional; abbrev: PN) is a political coalition composed of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (GERAKAN). This coalition was pr ...

(PN) coalition and formerly PH coalition. He also served as the Chairman of

Southeast Johor Development Authority The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

(KEJORA) from May 2020 to April 2022 and also member of Board of Director of

Johor Port Johor Port ( ms, Pelabuhan Johor) is a port in Pasir Gudang, Johor, Malaysia, built in 1977. It is an integrated multi-purpose port facility providing bulk cargo, Intermodal container, container and Break bulk cargo, general cargo services. It is ...

Political career (2018–present)

Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Permas (2018–2022)

Nomination, surprising victory and election in the 2018 Johor state election

Che Zakaria was nominated by BERSATU, then a component party of the PH opposition coalition to contest the Permas state seat in the 2018 Johor state election by challenging

Mohamed Khaled Nordin Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin ( Jawi: محمد خالد بن نورالدين; born 30 November 1958) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Higher Education for the second term in Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under Pr ...

, then

Menteri Besar of Johor The Menteri Besar of Johor or Chief Minister of Johor is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Johor. According to convention, the Menteri Besar is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Johor State Legislat ...

and Permas MLA. He defeated Khaled Nordin and replaced him as the new Permas MLA, the victory by Che Zakaria is considered one of the biggest surprises in the election as a Menteri Besar, the head of state government of

Johor Johor (; ), also spelled as Johore, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. Johor has land borders with the Malaysian states of Pahang to the north and Malacca and Negeri Sembilan ...

and highest-ranking politician in Johor is usually hard to be defeated in any elections given that Menteri Besar usually has higher popularity than the challenger.

Renomination denial and stepping down in the 2022 Johor state election

However, Che Zakaria was neither renominated by BERSATU, then a component party of PN after it left PH in February 2020, nor by any other political parties or coalitions, to contest in the

2022 Johor state election The 2022 Johor state election, formally the 15th Johor general election, took place on 12 March 2022. The election was to elect 56 members of the 15th Johor State Legislative Assembly. The previous assembly was dissolved on 22 January 2022. T ...

. His seat was then won by another candidate namely Baharudin Mohamed Taib from the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist right-wing political party in Malaysia. As the oldest continuous national political party within Malaysia (since its in ...

(UMNO), a component party of the ruling

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...

(BN) coalition and Che Zakaria handed over the position of Permas MLA to the winner Baharudin.

Former Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Permas (2022–present)

Crossover from BERSATU to AMANAH

On 23 July 2022, Che Zakaria announced his departure from BERSATU and joining of AMANAH. He cited the difficulties to serve the people as a BERSATU member. He also hinted that two other BERSATU former Johor MLAs, including a former member of the

Johor State Executive Council The Johor State Executive Council is the executive authority of the Government of Johor, Malaysia. The Council comprises the Menteri Besar, appointed by the Sultan on the basis that he is able to command a majority in the Johor State Legislative Ass ...

(EXCO) were also expected to do the same as him. AMANAH deputy president

Salahuddin Ayub Malay titles#Datuk Seri, Datuk Seri Salahuddin bin Ayub (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: صلاح الدين بن أيوب; born 1 December 1961) is a Malaysian people, Malaysian politician who has served as the Minister of Domestic Trade and Living Cos ...

noted that Che Zakaria did so willingly, sincerely and timely without any other motives and expectations other than agreeing with the principles and ideologies of AMANAH as he did not do so before the nomination day of the 2022 Johor state election on 26 February 2022 merely to secure a nomination from AMANAH to attempt to carry on his political career as an MLA after he was denied a nomination by his former party BERSATU. Salahuddin also revealed that the role Che Zakaria would play in Johor AMANAH was going to be refined not long after.

Election results

Honours

* : **

MY-PAH Order of the Crown of Pahang - Knight Companion - DIMP

Knight Companion of the

Order of the Crown of Pahang The Esteemed Order of the Crown of Pahang (Malay: '' Darjah Kebesaran Mahkota Pahang Yang Amat Mulia'') is a knighthood order of the Sultanate of Pahang. History The order was founded by Sultan Abu Bakar on 27 December 1968. It is awarded t ...

(DIMP) – Dato'

References

{{Reflist Former Malaysian United Indigenous Party politicians National Trust Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Johor State Legislative Assembly Malaysian people of Malay descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people)