Abu Bakar Hamzah

Abu Bakar Hamzah is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of the Perlis State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Kuala Perlis since November 2022. He is a member of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU), a component party of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. He is State Deputy Chairman I of PN of Perlis, State Chairman of BERSATU of Perlis and Division Chief of BERSATU of Kangar.

In the 2022 Perlis state election, Abu Bakar made his electoral debut after being nominated by PN to contest for the Kuala Perlis state seat. He won the seat and was elected into the Perlis State Legislative Assembly as the Kuala Perlis MLA after narrowly defeating defending MLA Nor Azam Karap of Pakatan Harapan (PH), independent candidate Azahar Ahmad, Kamarudin Malek of Barisan Nasional (BN) and Muhamad Hairi Noordin of the Heritage Party (WARISAN) by the majority of only 154 votes.^[1]

On 27 October 2023, Abu Bakar claimed that Perlis Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) led by Menteri Besar of Perlis Mohd Shukri Ramli as the State Commissioner was in the midst of internal turmoil, infighting and row over a number of issues related to religious understanding and governance. He said the situation in Perlis PAS has resulted in uneasiness among Perlis PN and the state administration.^[2] He later insisted that Perlis PAS must not hide its problems, divisions and tensions and called for clarification and intervention on its situation to quell the issues and build the strength of Perlis PN together.^[3] In reply to the claims, President of PAS Abdul Hadi Awang issued a stern warning against any acts of sabotage that could lead to the collapse of any of the PN state administrations.

On 16 November 2023, the Perlis State Executive Council (EXCO) was reshuffled by Menteri Besar Mohd Shukri. Three MLAs of BERSATU, Titi Tinggi MLA Izizam Ibrahim, Pauh MLA Megat Hashirat Hassan were reappointed and Tambun Tulang MLA Wan Zikri Afthar Ishak was appointed as Perlis EXCO Members while Abu Bakar as the Perlis PN Deputy Chairman I, Perlis BERSATU Chairman and Kuala Perlis MLA was not appointed as Perlis EXCO Member. He expressed his regret and disappointment at Mohd Shukri for not appointing him to the position despite being asked and urged by Chairman of PN and President of BERSATU Muhyiddin Yassin who nominated, proposed and supported Abu Bakar to become Perlis EXCO Member, to do so, describing it as an act of disregard, disrespect and betrayal against Muhyiddin. He stressed that this is the second time he was not appointed, the first time was when the Perlis PN state administration was first formed in November 2022. He also alleged Izizam and Megat Hashirat for 'stabbing his back' and 'masterminding a scheme' in effort to prevent Mohd Shukri from appointing him. In addition, he added that Mohd Shukri should have discussed the appointments of Perlis EXCO Members with him in the Perlis PN state leadership, which its meeting has never been called since the 2022 state election. Therefore, he declared 'war' on Mohd Shukri and demanded him to step down as the Menteri Besar.^[4][5] In response to the declaration, Izizam, also the Perlis BERSATU Deputy Chairman, asked his State Chairman Abu Bakar not to overreact but to discuss with the PN state leadership first before making any remarks. In addition, he advised Abu Bakar to be patient and focus on helping the public. He said Abu Bakar appeared to be wanting to fight everyone. He also denied the allegations that he had 'stabbed the back' of Abu Bakar, highlighting that he had no right to influence the decisions of Mohd Shukri who was older and more politically experienced than him as well as noting that sacrifices often needed to be made as some individuals would gain certain positions at the expense of others.^[6]