# Mohd Amar Abdullah

Mohd Amar bin Abdullah (born 29 July 1959) is a Malaysian politician and lecturer who has served as Speaker of the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly since September 2023 and Member of the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Panchor since March 2004. He served as the Deputy Menteri Besar of Kelantan and Member of the Kelantan State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), Gagasan Sejahtera (GS) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) state administrations under Menteris Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Ahmad Yakob from May 2013 and from March 2004 to August 2023 respectively as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pengkalan Chepa from April 1995 to March 2004. He is a member and one of the Vice Presidents of the Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), a component party of the PN, formerly PR, GS, Barisan Alternatif (BA) and Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah (APU) coalitions.

## Family background

Amar is the eldest child of Abdullah bin Arshad (known as Pak Nik Lah) and Chik binti Tengku Ibrahim. Amar's mother was the great-granddaughter of Sultan Muhammad III through his grandmother Halimah binti Tengku Long Zainal Abidin ibni Sultan Muhammad III.
Amar has 4 children (2 sons and 2 daughters) as a result of his marriage with Hasmani Binti Hussain.

## Education

Amar was educated by his father and lived together and received his early education at Sekolah Menengah Ugama (Agama) Tarbiah Mardhiah, Panchor. At the same time Amar studied in Sekolah Melayu Council (1965 - 1971) and proceed to the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in United Kingdom.
* 1965 - 1971 : Sekolah Melayu Majlis - Primary School
* 1972 - 1977 : SMU (A) Tarbiah Mardhiah - Secondary School (Lower 6)
* 1978 - 1979 : Maahad Muhammadi Men - Secondary School (Upper 6)
* 1979 - 1983 : Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) - Bachelor of Islamic Studies
* 1985 - 1988 : University of Birmingham, UK - MPhil in Theological Studies

## Career and politics

Amar was a lecturer in the Department of Revelation, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Petaling Jaya, Selangor and served for 10 years (1985-1995). He also previously served as the Superintendent of Customs (Sangkut) for a year in Penang. He was subsequently called by the PAS Kelantan leadership to contest in the Pengkalan Chepa parliamentary seat and then contest as Panchor MLA until now.
On 5 September 2023, Amar, after leaving the Kelantan state government as the Deputy Menteri Besar and EXCO Member, was appointed as the Speaker of the Kelantan Assembly. As Speaker, Amar vacated the Nenggiri state seat held and represented by its MLA Mohd Azizi Abu Naim of PN and the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) at the Kelantan state level, who was also the Gua Musang MP in the opposition at the federal level, who declared his support for the federal government and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. His support was a switch of political allegiance as Pakatan Harapan (PH) led by Anwar and PN were opposing politically at both levels. Mohd Amar declared the vacancy of the Nenggiri state seat on 19 June 2024 that led to the 2024 Nenggiri by-election after Azizi was terminated as a BERSATU member due to his switch of political allegiance. Azizi had challenged the decision of Mohd Amar by filing an interim injunction but it was dismissed by the High Court.

## Election results

Parliament of Malaysia :
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout |
| 1995 | P020 Pengkalan Chepa | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 20,410 | 68.15% | Ismail Mat (UMNO) | 9,316 | 31.11% | 35,198 | 11,094 | 83.28% |
| 1995 | P020 Pengkalan Chepa | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 20,410 | 68.15% | Yusof Mat (AKIM) | 221 | 0.74% | 35,198 | 11,094 | 83.28% |
| 1999 | P020 Pengkalan Chepa | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 23,765 | 75.24% | Mohd Noor Deris (UMNO) | 7,820 | 24.76% | 32,749 | 15,945 | 76.50% |
Kelantan State Legislative Assembly :
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout |
| 2004 | N07 Panchor | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 7,123 | 58.57% | Zulkifli Dollah (UMNO) | 5,038 | 41.43% | 12,492 | 2,085 | 80.11% |
| 2008 | N07 Panchor | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 9,148 | 61.57% | Dali Husin (UMNO) | 5,711 | 38.43% | 15,194 | 3,437 | 83.18% |
| 2013 | N07 Panchor | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 12,467 | 62.65% | Che Rosli Hassan (UMNO) | 7,431 | 37.35% | 20,107 | 5,036 | 85.10% |
| 2023 | N07 Panchor | Mohd Amar Abdullah (PAS) | 18,700 | 70.00% | Syed Mohd Alidustur Syed Mohd Zain (PKR) | 8,014 | 30.00% | 26,714 | 10,686 | 62.46% |

## Honours

* Kelantan:
** Dato' Sri Amar D'Raja (2023)
** Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (SJMK) – Dato' (2015)
** Knight Commander of the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (DJMK) – Dato' (2009)
** Companion of the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (JMK) (2006)