Najib Razak, Malaysian politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia

Mohammad Najib bin Abdul Razak is a Malaysian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia from 2009 to 2018. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, one of the largest money-laundering and embezzlement scandals in history. He is the son of former prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein. Najib served as the chairman of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition from April 2009 to May 2018 and as the president of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) from November 2008 to May 2018. However, the coalition experienced an unprecedented defeat in the 2018 general election, attributed to corruption charges involving Najib and his family, which eroded public trust in the ruling party. The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, widely regarded as unpopular, also significantly contributed to the decline in support.

The prime minister of Malaysia is the head of government of Malaysia. The prime minister directs the executive branch of the federal government. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong appoints the prime minister who is a member of Parliament (MP) who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs. The prime minister is usually the leader of the party winning the most seats in a general election.