Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who served as the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia from August 2021 to November 2022. He is the first Prime Minister born after the independence of Malaya, the first former Leader of the Opposition to become Prime Minister, and the only Prime Minister to serve without a deputy. Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri introduced the concept of ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (‘Malaysian Family’) on 22nd August 2021 to unite Malaysians across religious, ethnic, and racial boundaries. 

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob was born in Temerloh, Pahang on 18th January 1960. He started his early education at Sekolah Kebangsaan Bangau in 1967. He then continued his studies at Sekolah Menengah Air Putih in 1973, Sekolah Menengah Teknik Kuantan in 1967, and his Form Six studies at Jaya Akademik. Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri attended the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, and received a Bachelor’s Degree (Hons) in Law (LLB).

Dato’ Sri Ismail started his career as a lawyer in 1985 at the age of 25, and was later appointed as a Temerloh District Council Member in 1987 and Temerloh Municipal Council Member in 1996.

In 1995, he was appointed as a Political Secretary to the Minister of Culture, Arts, and Tourism, Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik. He was appointed as a Member of the Board of Directors of Lembaga Tenggara Pahang (DARA) in 1995 and a Member of the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board in the same year.

Before entering the Parliament in 2004, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri served as Chairman of the National Sports Complex.

Political Career:

In 1987, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri was appointed as an Umno Committee Member for Temerloh Division. A year later, he was appointed Head of Information for the Umno Division of Temerloh, then  promoted to Head of the Divisional Youth Movement in 1993, Deputy Head of the Division in 2001, and finally  became UMNO Temerloh Division Chief in 2004 at the age of 44.

He was elected to Parliament in the 2004 election, becoming the first member of parliament for the new seat of Bera. In the 2008 election, he was again elected and was subsequently appointed as the Minister of Youth and Sports in the cabinet of Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2008-2009). 

Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak (2009-2018) in April 2009, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri was appointed Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives, and Consumerism (2009-2013). After the 2013 general election where he retained his parliamentary seat, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri was appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (2013-2015) and later served as Minister of Rural Development and Federal Territories (2015-2018).

In March 2020, he was once again appointed as Senior Minister of Malaysia (Security Cluster) and Minister of Defence by the 8th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. In July 2021, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia by Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin while retaining the important position as Minister of Defence. 

On 21st August 2021, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri was appointed as Malaysia’s 9th Prime Minister. The appointment of the Bera Member of Parliament (MP) was made following the resignation of Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin  who is Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (BERSATU) president and Pagoh Member of Parliament (MP), on 16th August 2021 after Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin  failed to command majority support of MPs in Parliament.  

Note: In a statement by Istana Negara, the palace said that based on the statutory declaration letters received on 18th August from the 220 Members of Parliament (MPs), 114 had nominated Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri as Malaysia’s new Prime Minister which meant he received majority support to form the government. Leaders and representatives from UMNO, PKR, DAP, Bersatu, PAS, Amanah, Warisan, and Pejuang attended the meeting in Istana Negara, while those of GPS component parties had a virtual meeting with the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.   

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri introduced ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ (‘Malaysian Family’) on 22nd August 2021 in his inaugural speech as Prime Minister, a concept meant to unite Malaysians across religious, ethnic, and racial boundaries and invites Malaysians to come together as a unified family. ‘Keluarga Malaysia’ outlined 3 main cores –  Inclusion, Togetherness and Gratitude – and 20 values that underpinned the Prime Minister’s leadership of Malaysia, post-Covid19 pandemic.   

He also emphasised the importance of Bahasa Malaysia and proposed the language to be designated as the second official language of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) besides English. On 24th September 2022, he created history as the first Prime Minister of Malaysia to deliver a speech in Bahasa Malaysia at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

On 10th October 2022, Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri announced the dissolution of the Parliament to make way for the 15th General Election (GE15). He retained the Bera parliament seat for a fifth term after securing 31,762 votes, a majority of 16,695. However, his coalition, Barisan Nasional, won only 30 seats at the General Elections. As the top coalitions, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional, both failed to secure a simple majority in Parliament, BN accepted the invitation to join the Pakatan Harapan coalition, and became part of the ruling government under Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Anwar Ibrahim. 

Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri’s tenures as Prime Minister (15 months) and Deputy Prime Minister (40 days), were the shortest of all Malaysian premiers.

1960: Born in Temerloh, Pahang on 18th January.

1985: Started his career as a lawyer.

1987: Became a Member of the Temerloh District Council.

1995-1999: Appointed as Political Secretary to the Minister of Culture, Arts, and Tourism.

2008-2009: Became the Minister of Youth and Sports.

2009-2013: Became the Minister of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives, and Consumerism.

2013-2015: Became the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry.

2015-2018: Became the Minister of Rural Development and Federal Territories.

2020-2021: Appointed as Senior Minister (Minister of Defence), (Security Cluster).

July 2021: Became the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.

August 2021: Announced as the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia on 21st August 2021.  

October 2022: Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri announced the dissolution of Parliament on 10th October 2022 and stepped down as Prime Minister. 

November 2022: Retained his seat as Member of Parliament Bera (UMNO). However, his coalition (Barisan Nasional) suffered a major loss. As no winning coalition held majority, BN made the decision to cooperate with Pakatan Harapan to form the coalition government under the premiership of Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Living together in a culture of peace

“Although we are still threatened by conflicts between countries, we cannot ignore the other crises around the world. The pillar of strength for a conflict-free world is living together in a culture of peace. Malaysia, as a multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious country, always supports and strives for the concept of peaceful co-existence between various races, beliefs, and cultures.” – SPEECH AT THE GENERAL DEBATE OF THE 77TH SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON 23rd SEPTEMBER 2022 IN  NEW YORK.

Twelfth Malaysia Plan

“The Twelfth Plan was drafted bearing in mind current changes in the global and domestic economic landscape as well as the need to address current issues for the brighter future of Keluarga Malaysia. With the objective of ‘Keluarga Malaysia – Prosperous, Inclusive, Sustainable’, the Twelfth Plan outlines a comprehensive strategic plan to enable Malaysia to become a high-income and high-tech nation with a skilled workforce, towards achieving inclusive growth without compromising the environment. At the same time, the Government will work earnestly to improve the well-being of the rakyat and ensure that no one is left behind.” – SPEECH BY PRIME MINISTER YANG AMAT BERHORMAT DATO’ SRI ISMAIL SABRI YAAKOB FOR THE TABLING OF THE TWELFTH MALAYSIA PLAN, 2021-2025

As we are a family, we protect each other. As a brother, you will help your less fortunate siblings who are in difficulty. You will help them. You won’t leave them alone … so (we become) a caring society. This is a Malaysian Family, religion and race will not separate us if there is a family bond. We will look after our families, we will defend our families. – Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri Yaakob

• DATO’ SRI ISMAIL SABRI BIN YAAKOB TOOK OATH AS PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA – Home – Portal
• WORKING VISIT OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA YAB DATO’ SRI ISMAIL SABRI YAAKOB TO THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 26-29 SEPTEMBER 2022 – Press Releases
• King consents to Ismail Sabri’s appointment as Prime Minister, latter to be sworn in tomorrow
• Speech by the Prime Minister in the Dewan Rakyat 27 September 2021 – Twelfth Malaysia Plan