The deputy prime minister of Malaysia (; ) is the second-highest political office in Malaysia. There have been 15 officeholders since the office was created in 1957. The first prime minister of Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman, started the convention of appointing a deputy prime minister, but some cabinets have opted not to appoint a deputy prime minister.
Appointment
Malaysia has had a deputy prime minister since independence, but the prime minister of Malaysia may choose not to appoint one. The office of deputy prime minister is not officially provided in the constitution of Malaysia. A prime minister could also appoint more than one deputy prime minister, as has occurred before in Singapore.
From August 1957 to May 2018, when the coalition government Barisan Nasional (BN), of which the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was the main component party, and the only ruling coalition, the UMNO deputy president was usually appointed the deputy prime minister by the prime minister, who was the UMNO president. In the organisational structure of BN, the president and deputy president of UMNO were automatically made the chairman and deputy chairman of BN, respectively.
From May 2018 to February 2020, when Pakatan Harapan (PH), a political coalition of four parties, was the only ruling coalition, the holder of the position of deputy prime minister was decided upon by the presidential council of PH. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who was the first female holder of office, was the post holder.
The position was vacant for 16 months when Muhyiddin Yassin was sworn in as prime minister in March 2020 after Perikatan Nasional (PN) was the ruling coalition until July 2021. Ismail Sabri Yaakob was then appointed and briefly served for 40 days before taking over as prime minister. This made him the shortest-serving officeholder in history.
Between August 2021 till December 2022, when BN became again the ruling coalition, there have been no holders of the office of the deputy prime minister for 13 months.The position then is filled by Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Fadillah Yusof, the first duo deputy prime minister in Malaysian history.
Deaths, resignations and removals from office Of the thirteen previous officeholders, eight have stepped up to become Prime Ministers. Of the remaining, one died in office, two resigned, two were removed from office (both who later became Prime Ministers) by the sitting prime minister, and two disqualified from office due to defeat in the 2018 Malaysian general election and collapse of the federal administration in 2020–2022 Malaysian political crisis.
Ismail Abdul Rahman died in office due to massive heart attack in 1973. Musa Hitam resigned from second Mahathir cabinet over differences with prime minister over government policy in 1986. Abdul Ghafar Baba resigned from his portfolio following UMNO grassroots lost confidence in his leadership and his position as Deputy President of UMNO was challenged by Anwar Ibrahim in the UMNO's top leadership election. Anwar Ibrahim was the first deputy prime minister to be sacked after being accused and subsequently charged with corruption and sodomy in 1998. Muhyiddin Yassin was the second DPM to be removed from office after being dropped from the Cabinet by former prime minister Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak in a reshuffle in 2015. He later was sacked from his party. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail's role as deputy prime minister ended after the seventh Mahathir cabinet was dissolved due to its fall from the federal administration in 2020.
List of deputy prime ministers of Malaysia Colour key (for political parties):
# PortraitNameTerm of officeMinisterial offices held as Deputy Prime MinisterPolitical partyPrime MinisterTook officeLeft officeTime in office 1 Abdul Razak Hussein31 August 195722 September 1970 Minister of National and Rural Development Minister of Defence Minister of Home Affairs Minister of Finance Alliance (UMNO) Tunku Abdul Rahman 2 Ismail Abdul Rahman (Died in office)22 September 19702 August 1973 Minister of Home Affairs Minister of Trade and Industry Abdul Razak Hussein 3Hussein Onn13 August 197315 January 1976 Minister of Education Minister of Trade and Industry Minister of Finance BN (UMNO) 4Mahathir Mohamad5 March 197616 July 1981 Minister of Education Minister of Trade and Industry Hussein Onn 5 Musa Hitam18 July 198116 March 1986 Minister of Home Affairs Mahathir Mohamad 6Abdul Ghafar Baba10 May 198615 October 1993 Minister of National and Rural Development Minister of Rural Development 7Anwar Ibrahim1 December 19932 September 1998 Minister of Finance 8Abdullah Ahmad Badawi8 January 199931 October 2003 Minister of Home Affairs 9Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak7 January 20043 April 2009 Minister of Defence Minister of Finance Abdullah Ahmad Badawi 10Muhyiddin Yassin10 April 200928 July 2015 Minister of Education Mohammad Najib Abdul Razak 11Ahmad Zahid Hamidi29 July 20159 May 2018 Minister of Home Affairs 12Wan Azizah Wan Ismail21 May 201824 February 2020 Minister of Women, Family and Community Development PH (PKR) Mahathir Mohamad 13Ismail Sabri Yaakob7 July 202116 August 2021 Minister of Defence BN (UMNO) Muhyiddin Yassin14Ahmad Zahid Hamidi3 December 2022Incumbent Minister of Rural and Regional Development Anwar IbrahimFadillah Yusof3 December 2022Incumbent Minister of Plantation and Commodities Minister of Energy Transition and Public Utilities GPS (PBB)
Timeline
Living former deputy prime ministers Deputy prime ministers are usually granted certain privileges after leaving office at government expense. Former deputy prime ministers continue to be important national figures. The most recently the late deputy prime minister was Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (1939–2025), who died on 14 April 2025.
Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the current deputy prime minister and also a former deputy prime minister (serving 29 July 2015 – 9 May 2018)
See also Prime Minister of Malaysia Senior Minister of Malaysia Spouse of the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Official state car Air transports of heads of state and government
References