Wan Azizah

Dato’ Seri Dr. Wan Azizah binti Wan Ismail (born 3 December 1952) commonly known as Kak Wan is a Malaysian politician who served as the 12th Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Women, Family and Community Development in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from May 2018 to the collapse of the PH administration during a political crisis in February 2020. She was the first female Deputy Prime Minister, the first female Leader of the Opposition and the highest ever female political officeholder in the history of Malaysia.

She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pandan since May 2018 as well as Permatang Pauh, on behalf of her husband Anwar Ibrahim, from November 1999 to March 2008 and again from May 2015 to May 2018. She also served as 1st President of the People’s Justice Party (PKR), a component party of the PH opposition coalition, also on behalf of Anwar, the de facto party leader whose trials and prison sentences had prevented him from holding the office himself. She served in the position from the party formation in April 1999 to officially handing over the party leadership to Anwar November 2018 after his release from prison. In addition, she served as the 11th and 13th Leader of the Opposition, on behalf of Anwar again from March 2008 to August 2008 and again from May 2015 to the victory of PH against BN in the 2018 general election in May 2018 and Member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Kajang from April 2014 to May 2018.