Dato' Onn Hafiz bin Ghazi (Jawi: عون حفيظ بن غازي; born 2 March 1979) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 19th Menteri Besar of Johor and Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Machap since March 2022.[1] He previously served as MLA for Layang-Layang from May 2018 to March 2022. From March 2020 to his promotion to Menteri Besarship in March 2022, he served as Member of the Johor State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Barisan Nasional (BN) state administration under former Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad. [2] He is a member and the Division Chief of Simpang Renggam of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), a component party of the BN coalition. He has also served as the State Chairman of BN and UMNO of Johor since February 2024 and December 2023 respectively.
Onn Hafiz Ghazi | |
|---|---|
| عون حفيظ غازي | |
 Onn Hafiz in 2022 | |
| 19th Menteri Besar of Johor | |
| Assumed office 15 March 2022 | |
| Monarch | Ibrahim Iskandar |
| Preceded by | Hasni Mohammad |
| Constituency | Machap |
| Member of the Johor State Executive Council | |
| (Tourism, Youth & Sports) | |
| In office 6 March 2020 – 15 March 2022 | |
| Monarch | Ibrahim Iskandar |
| Menteri Besar | Hasni Mohammad |
| Preceded by | Liow Cai Tung (Tourism) Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali (Youth & Sports) |
| Succeeded by | Raven Kumar Krishnasamy (Tourism) Mohd Hairi Mad Shah (Youth & Sports) |
| Constituency | Layang-Layang |
| State Chairman of Barisan Nasional of Johor | |
| Assumed office 5 February 2024 | |
| National Chairman | Ahmad Zahid Hamidi |
| Preceded by | Mohamed Khaled Nordin |
| State Chairman of the United Malays National Organisation of Johor | |
| Assumed office 7 December 2023 | |
| President | Ahmad Zahid Hamidi |
| Deputy | Ahmad Maslan |
| Preceded by | Mohamed Khaled Nordin |
| Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Machap | |
| Assumed office 12 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Abdul Taib Abu Bakar (BN–UMNO) |
| Majority | 6,543 (2022) |
| Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Layang-Layang | |
| In office 9 May 2018 – 12 March 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim (BN–UMNO) |
| Succeeded by | Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim (BN–UMNO) |
| Majority | 364 (2018) |
| Faction represented in the Johor State Legislative Assembly | |
| 2018– | Barisan Nasional |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Onn Hafiz bin Ghazi 2 March 1979 Simpang Renggam, Kluang, Johor, Malaysia |
| Political party | United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) (since 2006) |
| Other political affiliations | Barisan Nasional (BN) (since 2006) |
| Spouse | Sharmin Fazlina Mohd Shukor |
| Relations | Jaafar Muhammad (Great-great-grandfather) Onn Jaafar (Great-grandfather) Mohamed Noah Omar (Great-grandfather) Hussein Onn (Maternal Grandfather) Suhailah Noah (Maternal Grandmother) Rahah Noah (Maternal Grandaunt) Hishammuddin Hussein (Maternal Uncle) Yahya Awang (Maternal Uncle-in-law) Najib Razak (First Cousin once removed) Nazir Razak (First Cousin once removed) Nizar Najib (Second Cousin) Nazifuddin Najib (Second Cousin) |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent(s) | Ghazi Ishak (died 2021) Roquaiya Hanim Hussein (died 2006) |
| Education | Royal Military College |
| Alma mater | University of Hertfordshire (BA) |
| Occupation | Politician |
| Profession | Accountant |
Early life, family and education
editOnn Hafiz was born in Simpang Renggam, Kluang, Johor to Dato' Ghazi Ishak (1943–2021) and Datin Roquaiya Hanim Hussein (1949–2006), Hussein Onn's eldest child. He had comes from an impressive political pedigree. He is the great-great-grandson of the first Menteri Besar of Johor Jaafar Muhammad, great-grandson of seventh and former Menteri Besar of Johor, first and former President of UMNO Onn Jaafar, grandson of third and former Prime Minister of Malaysia Hussein Onn, and nephew of former Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein.
Onn Hafiz went to Royal Military College. He received Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Accounting from University of Hertfordshire.
Political career
editOnn Hafiz was an EXCO of the UMNO Youth in 2013-2018 under the leadership of Khairy Jamaluddin. In the 2018 election, he was chosen as the candidate for the Layang-Layang[3] seat and won it with a small majority of only 364 against candidates from PKR and PAS. In the 2022 election, Onn Hafiz switched constituencies to Machap and won it with a majority of 6,543 against 3 candidates including a candidate from PEJUANG, Shahruddin Md Salleh.[4]
On 15 March 2022, Onn Hafiz was officially sworn in as the new and 19th Menteri Besar of Johor, the 4th officeholder in just a single term of Parliament of Malaysia. Initially after the 2022 Johor state election, BN Chairman and UMNO President Ahmad Zahid Hamidi revealed that he would submit the name of his predecessor and caretaker Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad to the Sultan of Johor for Hasni to be reappointed to the position after BN gained landslide victory in the election. BN previously also picked Hasni as its Menteri Besar candidate before BN returned to power. However a day before his appointment, Hasni suddenly announced his withdrawal from the running for the position and that he would pave way and endorse a younger candidate to lead the state government citing long term development for Johor and Onn Hafiz was instead appointed the next day.
Controversies and issues
edit1MDB Scandal
editIn April 2019, Onn Hafiz was a witness in former prime minister Najib Razak’s corruption trial, which involved millions of ringgit linked to state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). He testified to the Kuala Lumpur High Court that his company Vital Spire received a cheque for RM240,000 from Najib to launch the Malaysian Digest portal.[5]
Election results
edit| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | N27 Layang-Layang | Onn Hafiz Ghazi (UMNO) | 7,449 | 46.93% | Murugan Muthu Samy (PKR) | 7,085 | 44.63% | 16,257 | 364 | 81.90% | ||
| Mohd Jubri Selamat (PAS) | 1,339 | 8.44% | ||||||||||
| 2022 | N26 Machap | Onn Hafiz Ghazi (UMNO) | 11,029 | 56.64% | Azlisham Azhar (PAS) | 4,486 | 23.04% | 19,473 | 6,543 | 57.67% | ||
| Sangaran Rawisandran (MUDA) | 3,493 | 17.94% | ||||||||||
| Shahruddin Md Salleh (PEJUANG) | 465 | 2.39% | ||||||||||
Honours
editFederal Territory (Malaysia) :
Commander of the Order of the Territorial Crown (PMW) – Datuk (2018)[9]
Johor :
Grand Knight of the Order of Sultan Ibrahim of Johor (SMIJ) – Dato' (2023)[10]
References
edit- ^ Hammim, Rizalman (15 March 2022). "Onn Hafiz sworn in as new Johor MB". New Straits Times. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
- ^ "Onn Hafiz terima surat tauliah pelantikan MB Johor". MalaysiaGazette. 2022-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
- ^ "Onn Hafiz continue Onn Jaafar's legacy". New Straits Times. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Johor polls: Shahruddin and Onn Hafiz in four-cornered fight in Machap". Astro Awani. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ Mohd, Hidir Reduan & Hariz (2019-04-23). "Najib paid Umno rep kin RM240k to run news portal". Malaysiakini.
- ^ "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
- ^ "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
- ^ "Dashboard SPR". dashboard.spr.gov.my. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
- ^ "370 dapat pingat sempena Hari Wilayah". Berita Harian (in Malay). 1 February 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
- ^ "Indonesia's Defence Minister, Johor MB among six awarded titles in conjunction with Johor Ruler's birthday". The Star. 22 November 2023. Retrieved 22 November 2023.