N. Surendran s/o K. Nagarajan (

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

: ந. சுரெந்திரன்), commonly referred to as N. Surendran, 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 ...

lawyer and politician. He was the Member of the

Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, Literal translation, lit. "People's A ...

for the

Padang Serai Padang Serai or lemongrass field, a little town in Kulim District, Kedah, Malaysia. The sleepy hollow, surrounded by oil palm plantations and the nearby Kulim High-tech Industrial Zone has 56 percent Malay, 23 percent Indians and 12 percent Chi ...

constituency in the state of

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...

for one term from 2013 to 2018. He is a member of the

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

(PKR), 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.

Early life, education and legal career

Surendran was born in

Kuantan Kuantan ( Jawi: ) is a city and the state capital of Pahang, Malaysia. It is located near the mouth of the Kuantan River. Kuantan is the 18th largest city in Malaysia based on 2010 population, and the largest city in the East Coast of Penin ...

Pahang Pahang (;Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , Pahang Hulu Malay: ''Paha'', Pahang Hilir Malay: ''Pahaeng'', Ulu Tembeling Malay: ''Pahaq)'' officially Pahang Darul Makmur with the Arabic honorific ''Darul Makmur'' (Jawi: , "The Abode of Tranquility") is a ...

and raised in

Alor Setar Alor Setar ( Jawi: الور ستار, Kedahan: ''Loqstaq'') is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia. It is the second-largest city in the state after Sungai Petani and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia ...

. His late father was a postmaster, and he has three siblings. He obtained a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

and was admitted to the

Malaysian Bar The Malaysian Bar (Malay: Badan Peguam Malaysia) is a professional body which regulates the profession of lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia, peninsular Malaysia. In Malaysia, there is no distinction between a barrister and a solicitor, in that, ...

in 1994. Surendran practiced as a human rights lawyer, taking on cases of deaths in custody and representing the

Hindu Rights Action Force Hindu Rights Action Force, better known by its acronym HINDRAF ( ms, Barisan Bertindak Hak-Hak Hindu, ta, இந்து உரிமைகள் போராட்டக் குழு, Intu Urimaikaḷ Pōrāṭṭak Kuḻu); is a Hindu- acti ...

(HINDRAF). He co-founded

Lawyers for Liberty Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) is a Malaysian human rights and law reform NGO. In 2010 it revealed several years' statistics of lethal police shootings in Malaysia and inferred that police had impunity to murder. In 2011 it commented on the exchange of ...

(LFL) in 2011 and became the a key member of the group.

Politics

In 2010 Surendran was appointed by

Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...

as one of PKR's vice-presidents. The appointment was a surprise: Surendran was not a parliamentarian at the time and his selection was criticised by

N. Gobalakrishnan Gobalakrishnan Nagapan (born 23 March 1960), commonly referred to as N. Gobalakrishnan, is a Malaysian politician. He was the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Padang Serai constituency in Kedah from 2008 to 2013. He was elected to ...

, the then Padang Serai MP who had just lost a ballot for the vice presidency. He remained in the post until 2014, when he was defeated for re-election in a party ballot. In the 2013 general election, Surendran contested the Padang Serai parliamentary seat for the PKR. Gobalakrishnan had won the seat for PKR in the previous election, but left the party to sit on the crossbench soon after his public attack on Surendran's appointment as a party vice-president. Surendran won the seat at the election, defeating four other candidates including Gobalakrishnan. Surendran had expressed surprise, travelling to Padang Serai from his home in Kuala Lumpur to campaign, at the extent of rural poverty there. Table excludes votes for candidates who finished in third place or lower. In November 2013, Surendran was suspended from the Parliament for six months. The government-dominated Parliament voted to suspend him on the ground of insulting the Speaker of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

during a debate about the demolition of Hindu temples. In Jun 2014, Surendran notched up his fourth suspension from the Parliament amidst a debate on the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant. In August 2014, he was twice charged for sedition for criticising the overturning of opposition leader

's acquittal on sodomy charges and alleging that the Prime Minister,

Najib Razak Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak ( ms, محمد نجيب بن عبد الرزاق, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, ; born 23 July 1953) is a Malaysian politician who served as the 6th prime minister of Malaysi ...

, was "personally responsible" for Anwar's prosecution. Surendran was dropped by PKR as candidate in 2018 general election.

Early life, education and legal career

Politics

Election results

References

See also