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From Senior Minister to possibly becoming Malaysia’s next Prime Minister, it has been a steady rise for Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri in the midst of the political, health and economic turmoil in the country.
If he does succeed to be the next premier, the UMNO man will face a challenge; the recovery of a country that’s struggling with the pandemic and the ramifications that come with it.
The Bera MP has been in politics for more than 20 years with his most recent role being part of the PN cabinet under the leadership of Tan Sri Mahiaddin Md Yasin, first serving as a Senior Minister before moving up to the become Deputy Prime Minister.
As Senior Minister (Defense), one of his tasks was informing the public on the latest developments related to non-health activities such as border patrol and the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
We take a look at his history and rise in politics.
Early days
Born in Temerloh, Pahang on 18 January 1960, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob received his early education in the state before continuing his studies in Law at Universiti Malaya.
He is also the father of four children including Dafi, a contestant in Akademi Fantasia, a syndicated reality television series the mid-2000s.
Before stepping into politics, he used to be a lawyer and held the Director position for the Southeast Pahang Development Authority (DARA), the Tourism Promotion Board of Malaysia and Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex.
His first stint as a Cabinet Minister came in 2008 where he was the Youth and Sports Minister under the premiership of Tun Abdullah Badawi.
Ismail then changed portfolios for a few times until 2018 including being the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (2009 – 2013), Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry (2013-2015) and Minister of Rural and Regional Development (2015-2018).
He was involved with a bit of controversy in the past with the creation of the MARA Digital Mall, a supposed alternative and competitor to Low Yat Plaza after an incident that went viral during the time.
Return to government
Ismail came back into the Cabinet as part of the new coalition, Perikatan Nasional between Parti Bersatu Bumiputera Malaysia (Bersatu), Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Barisan Nasional.
He was one of four Senior Ministers appointed alongside Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (International Trade and Industry Minister); Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof (Works Minister) and Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin (Education Minister).
After the Covid-19 pandemic entered our shores, he became one of the key spokespersons for the government alongside the Prime Minister and Ministry of Health Director-General Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah.
Moving up as Deputy Prime Minister
Ismail Sabri’s stint as Deputy Prime Minister was a fairly short one as he was appointed at a time when UMNO’s eventual exodus was looming with the party’s President Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi looking to withdraw support from Perikatan Nasional.
It was announced on 7 July that he was to become the Deputy Prime Minister who would continue to oversee the Ministry of Defense portfolio.
He wasn’t the only one getting a new role as Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein was also upgraded to become a Senior Minister.
Hishammuddin was tasked to head the Security Cluster, taking over from Ismail Sabri, besides assisting the Prime Minister in the execution of the National Recovery Plan.
Meanwhile, the DPM was supposed to help the Prime Minister in managing the administration of the country and fulfil the people’s needs.
With the resignation of the Prime Minister, Ismail Sabri’s position in the Cabinet was automatically surrendered.
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