Ahmad Bashah bin Md Hanipah is a Malaysian politician. He is a member of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. He was the Menteri Besar of Kedah from 4 February 2016 to 10 May 2018. He was appointed as Menteri Besar after Mukhriz Mahathir agreed to step down after losing majority support in the state assembly. Ahmad Bashah was sworn in as Menteri Besar of Kedah the day after Mukhriz resigned, on February 4, 2016.
Following his appointment as Menteri Besar, Ahmad Bashah resigned as the Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism and as a Senator.
In the 2018 election, Ahmad Bashah failed to retain the Suka Menanti state seat when he lost to Zamri Yusuf, of the People's Justice Party (PKR), in a three-corner fight with Mohd Sabri Omar of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).
Controversies and issues On 16 August 2016, Alor Setar MP Gooi Hsiao Leung blasted Ahmad Bashah for accusing foreign countries of intervening in Malaysia's administration to topple its leader. Gooi asked if Ahmad Bashah was referring to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuits to seize some US$1 billion worth of assets in the US bought with "stolen money" from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Ahmad Bashah had said that he did not want any "foreign element" to determine the country's future leaders and to take over what the government had developed.
Election results + Kedah State Legislative Assembly Percentage figures based on total turnout. Results only available from the 2004 election.YearConstituencyCandidateVotesPctOpponent(s)VotesPctBallots castMajorityTurnout1995N14 Alor Merah (UMNO)9,55869.10%Fadzil Ahmad (PAS)3,96528.66%13,833 5,593 71.14%1999Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (UMNO)8,85058.66%Fadzil Ahmad (PAS)5,92839.30%15,0862,922 71.77%2004N12 Bakar BataAhmad Bashah Md Hanipah (UMNO)11,09167.89%Ismail Salleh (PAS)5,05430.94%16,3366,03775.72%2008Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (UMNO)8,23251.21%Rohani Bakar (PKR)7,87448.01%16,39535872.24%2013Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (UMNO)11,99950.72%Mohd Eekmal Ahmad (PKR)11,10446.94%23,65889584.30% Jawahar Raja Abdul Wahid (MUPP)1920.81% 2018N12 Suka MenantiAhmad Bashah Md Hanipah (UMNO)7,05028.28%Zamri Yusuf (PKR)13,30153.35%25,3716,25181.04%Mohd Sabri Omar (PAS)4,58018.37%
Honours Honours of Malaysia
Medal of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (PPN) (1985)
Member of the Order of the Crown of Kedah (AMK) (1994) Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (SDK) (1996) Knight Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (DSDK) – Dato' (2002) Knight Commander of the Order of Loyalty to Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah (DHMS) – Dato' Paduka (2006) Knight Grand Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Royal House of Kedah (SSDK) – Dato' Seri (2014) Grand Commander of the Order of Loyalty to Sultan Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah (SHMS) – Dato' Seri Diraja (2017)
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