Mohd Yusmadi bin Mohd Yusoff ( Jawi: محمد يسمدي بن محمد يوسف; born 12 October 1974) 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 and 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

Balik Pulau Balik Pulau is a town within the jurisdiction of Penang Island City Council in the Malaysian state of Penang. Located at the southwest of Penang Island, it is also the administrative seat of the Southwest Penang Island District. The agricultura ...

constituency in

Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...

, Malaysia from 2008 to 2013. He sat in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

as a member of

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). Yusmadi now holds an appointment as a Senator in ''

Dewan Negara The Dewan Negara (English language, English: Senate; Literal translation, lit. "State Council") is the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia, consisting of 70 senators of whom 26 are elected by the State legislative assemblies of Malaysia, ...

''. the Upper House of

to represent Penang. He was appointed in August 2018.

Professional Careers

Senior Partner, Fahda Nur & Yusmadi

Yusmadi is a legal practitioner by profession. He specializes in public interest litigation and criminal defense cases. He has been involved as a leading counsel and co-counsel in civil and criminal cases. Some of the renowned cases that were handled by him involved politicians, top singers and activists namely Al-Maunah case, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Rock Band Search, force eviction cases, Reformasi activists. He is also active in defending cases assigned by YBGK (National Legal Aid Foundation). His pride and joy, Fahda Nur & Yusmadi is a boutique law firm which focuses on civil law, commercial, crime, human rights, public interests and Islamic law.

RIGHTS Foundation

He established the RIGHTS Foundation. He is the founder and chairman of the non-profit organization RIGHTS Foundation which promotes constructive engagement and interaction on the issues of Governance, Human Rights and Social Justice in the region through forums, seminars, advocacy work, dialogues and publications. RIGHTS focal points consist of The Idea of RIGHTS, The Institution of RIGHTS and RIGHTS Hidden Hands.

Public Service Experience

Parliamentarian

Yusmadi was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Balik Pulau, Penang during the Malaysia General Election in 2008. He broke the record by winning the seat for the first time ever since 1999 for PKR with the majority of 708 votes against Norraesah Binti Mohamad (

UMNO 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 ...

). Nevertheless, during the Malaysia General Election in 2013, he was not contested to focus on his non-profit organizations and human rights activities, as well as to make way for

Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik Muhammad Bakhtiar bin Wan Chik ( Jawi: محمد بختيار بن وان چيق; born 22 May 1965) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former ...

, who was eventually unsuccessful in winning the seat During his tenure as the Member of Parliament, he was appointed by His Majesty the King as the Member of the Parliamentary Committee for Anti-Corruption under the umbrella of

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission ( ms, Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia), abbreviated MACC or ''SPRM'', (formerly known as Anti-Corruption Agency, ACA or ''Badan Pencegah Rasuah'', ''BPR'') is a government agency in Malaysia that ...

(MACC).

Fellow at Institute for Policy Research (known as ''Institut Kajian Dasar'' (IKD))

He was elected as the fellow for Institute for Policy Research from 2006 until 2008.

International Involvement

He was appointed by the Secretary General of Commonwealth to be part of the Commonwealth Election Observation Team for Maldives Presidential Election in 2013. He was one of the

Election Observers Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

during the US Mid Term Election in 2007 organized by the Center for Democracy & Election Management,

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Film / documentary

Special guest in

A Whisper To A Roar ''A Whisper to a Roar'' is a 2012 American documentary film made by Ben Moses and inspired by the work of Larry Diamond. The film chronicles the fight for democracy in Egypt, Malaysia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe, and includes animated segme ...

in 2009, a collaborative project between

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

and Prince Hecham Maulay Foundation.

The Concept of ''Muafakat'' (Consensus)

Yusmadi is known for his optimistic, objective and positive point of view. He is a strong believer in the concept of ''Muafakat'' (consensus). Quoted from The Star pertaining to his view on the upcoming 2018 PKR Election, he said, ''“The formula for PKR to be stronger is'' ''through Muafakat. To me, M''uafakat ''is not only just about consensus and cooperation but M''uafakat ''is an accord between the concerned stakeholders for a bigger agenda. And the bigger agenda is only one – for PKR to be the most sustainable, leading party for a new government”''''.''

References

{{Authority control Living people 1974 births People from Penang Malaysian people of Malay descent Malaysian Muslims 21st-century Malaysian lawyers People's Justice Party (Malaysia) politicians Members of the Dewan Rakyat Members of the Dewan Negara International Islamic University Malaysia alumni 21st-century Malaysian politicians