A milestone for Mukhriz as Kedah MB

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir reached another milestone in his political career when he took oath as the Chief Minister of Kedah yesterday. Following in his father’s footsteps, the son of the former prime minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and wife Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah is showing everyone that he is here to stay and spearhead the state into the next phase. He won the Ayer Hitam assembly state seat by defeating the PAS candidate Abd Ghani Ahmad with a majority of 2,446 votes. The former Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Mukhriz took over the chief minister post from Dato' Seri Azizan bin Abdul Razak. Mukhriz has promised to transform Alor Setar into a metropolitan city and create an industrial hub in Jerlun, Padang Terap and Yan as well as to defend the people of Kedah.

He had held various position in several companies and organisations, such as Opcom Holdings Bhd, Kosmo Tech, Malaysian Franchise Association and Perdana Peace Global Organisation. Mukhriz is married to Datin Paduka Norzieta Zakaria and has four children. In 2004, he won the election of the UMNO Youth Exco by garnering the highest number of votes and was then appointed to the post. He was also seen as a potential candidate for being the deputy chief of UMNO Youth's wing, but he later withdrew. In the 2008 general election, Mukhriz won the Jerlun Parliament Seat (P005) with the sum of the DUN differing markedly from Wilayah. In 2009, contested as a candidate for the new UMNO Youth Chief after the wing's predecessor, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein released his position. However, he lost in the contest which was eventually won by Khairy Jamaluddin.