Abdul Latiff Ahmad

Abdul Latiff Ahmad
Born	(1958-07-09) July 9, 1958 Malaysia
Occupation	Politician
Years active	1995–2022
Known for	Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Special Functions (2021–2022); Member of Parliament for Mersing (1999–2022)

Abdul Latiff bin Ahmad (Jawi: عبداللطيف بن أحمد; born 9 July 1958) is a Malaysian political figure who held the role of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Special Functions between 2021 and 2022. He represented Mersing as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1999 until 2022.

Prior to this, Abdul Latiff was appointed Minister of Rural Development from 2020 to 2021 and has served as Deputy Minister across various departments, including Defence, Health, and Human Resources.

Originally affiliated with the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, he departed from UMNO in 2018. The following year, he became a member of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), which is part of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition.

Political career

Abdul Latiff’s political journey began with his election to the Johor State Legislative Assembly representing Endau in the 1995 election. Transitioning to federal politics in the 1999 general election, he secured the parliamentary seat for Mersing in Johor. His tenure included roles as Deputy Minister of Human Resources (1999–2004), Deputy Minister of Health (2004–2008), and Deputy Minister of Defence (2008–2013). He successfully retained his Mersing MP seat in subsequent general elections held in 2004, 2008, 2013, and 2018.

Following the 2013 election, Abdul Latiff was excluded from Najib Razak's cabinet and was appointed chairman of the government-linked housing development company Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB). He vacated this position in early 2019 after BN’s defeat by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 2018 general election.

Criticism of UMNO

On 8 July 2020, Abdul Latiff publicly characterized UMNO as an unprincipled party in Sabah after several of its leaders defected to Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu). During an open forum widely shared on video, he commented that Sabahans traditionally describe party switching as migration—historically moving from Berjaya to PBS and then from PBS to UMNO. His statements provoked criticism from UMNO officials who called for his resignation. In response, Abdul Latiff issued an apology, emphasizing that UMNO’s true adversaries lie outside the party and expressing regret if his remarks suggesting "UMNO does not work in Sabah" caused any offense.

Election results

Johor State Legislative Assembly

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1995	N09 Endau	Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional |	Abdul Latiff Ahmad (UMNO)	7,315	69%	Template:Party shading/PAS |	Sheikh Abdullah Said Salleh (PAS)	3,302	31%	10,668	4,013	64.36%

Parliament of Malaysia

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
1999	P129 Mersing	Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional |	Abdul Latiff Ahmad (UMNO)	18,821	70.28%	Template:Party shading/PAS |	Idris Tukachil (PAS)	7,960	29.72%	27,617	10,861	70.29%
2004	rowspan=5 P154 Mersing	Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional |	Abdul Latiff Ahmad (UMNO)	19,222	80.52%	Template:Party shading/PAS |	Idris Tukachil (PAS)	4,649	19.48%	24,484	14,573	72.25%
2008	Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional |	Abdul Latiff Ahmad (UMNO)	20,116	75.92%	Template:Party shading/PAS |	Shahar Abdullah (PAS)	6,380	24.08%	27,548	13,736	75.59%
2013	Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional |	Abdul Latiff Ahmad (UMNO)	26,184	71.50%	Template:Party shading/PAS |	Roslan Nikmat (PAS)	10,437	28.50%	37,393	15,747	84.03%
rowspan=2 2018	rowspan=2 Template:Party shading/Barisan Nasional |	rowspan=2 Abdul Latiff Ahmad (UMNO)	19,806	53.00%	Template:Party shading/Keadilan |	Md Nasir Hashim (PPBM)	11,347	30.37%	38,306	8,459	79.51%
Template:Party shading/PAS |	A. Rahman A. Hamid (PAS)	6,215			16.63%

Malaysian Honours

• • Awarded the Second Class of the Sultan Ibrahim Medal (PIS II) in 1995
  • Received the Companion rank of the Order of the Crown of Johor (SMJ) in 1997
• • Bestowed with the Companion Class I of the Exalted Order of Malacca (DMSM), carrying the title Datuk in 2003