UMNO – PKR Conundrum: What Will Tengku Zafrul Do, Stay Or Go?
Rumour has it that Tengku Zafrul is planning to join Anwar’s PKR and maybe become the Selangor MB.


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The weekend was semi-interesting for politics. You might have come across headlines about Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz saying something on being undecided about his political leaning.
Well, you’ll soon find out as we try to understand the whole debacle surrounding Tengku Zafrul.
The Rumour
On 13 December, a speculative report claimed that the Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) Tengku Zafrul is considering jumping from UMNO to join Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s PKR.
For those who need a refresher course, UMNO and PKR are part of the current coalition government aka unity government but they’re never really BFFs.
The rumour also claimed that Tengku Zafrul could be taking over as the Selangor Menteri Besar mid-term.
Take note that this would not be an easy thing to do becauseTengku Zafrul is not a Selangor assemblyman. Appointing him as MB would first require a by-election which he would have to win.
Meanwhile, UMNO president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said he had not received any official notification from Tengku Zafrul about his plans to switch alliances.
PKR secretary-general Fuziah Salleh also confirmed the party had not received any membership application from Tengku Zafrul.
What Anwar said
The rumours were put to rest on 15 December when Prime Minister and PKR president Anwar confirmed early-stage discussions on Tengku Zafrul’s possible party switch.
Anwar said PKR did not invite Tengku Zafrul to join the party but did not reject the latter’s interest in the spirit of openness.
How did UMNO react?
Unsurprisingly, some UMNO members aren’t happy about the news regarding one of their leaders potentially abandoning ship.
UMNO secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said the party viewed the issue with utmost gravity and it would not accept an ally “poaching” Tengku Zafrul.
Umno firmly maintains its stance that it will never accept or allow the practice of party-hopping by members of any party within the Unity Government. The culture of poaching members or leaders from each other’s parties will only create disputes and conflicts, jeopardising the coalition’s stability.
UMNO secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki
Asyraf also reminded PKR of the risks of fraying political alliances, citing the 2020 defections that brought down the Pakatan Harapan administration.
What Tengku Zafrul said
After Anwar confirmed the rumours, Tengku Zafrul announced that he would clarify his position soon in an official statement.
However, he put the rumour about him taking over the Selangor MB position to rest.
On 14 December, Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari announced that he intends to complete his term as the Selangor MB upon advice from Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sahrafuddin Idris Shah.
The Sungai Tua assemblyman and Gombak MP said he would continue to serve his term to ensure economic stability and the stability of the unity government in the state.
Who is Tengku Zafrul? Why does UMNO want him?
Tengku Zafrul was born on 25 June 1973 and is the eldest of four siblings. He comes from a prominent family and has ties with the Selangor and Negeri Sembilan royal family.
His mother, Raja Datuk Zaharaton Raja Zainal Abidin, was formerly the Director-General of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) of the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia and his father, Tengku Abdul Aziz Tengku Haris, is a businessman.
Tengku Zafrul became part of the Selangor and Negeri Sembilan royal family after marrying Raja Datin Seri Utama Johanna Adrina Raja Arshad. Together, they share four children: 2 boys and 2 girls.
He had his early education in Sri Petaling Primary School and Bukit Bintang Primary School before continuing his studies at Malay College Kuala Kangsar.
He then did his A-Levels at Sherborne School in the United Kingdom and graduated from the University of Bristol with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in economics and accounting. He also obtained a Master of Arts (MA) in Finance and Management from the University of Exeter.
From 2017 to 2019, he completed a second master’s degree in business administration (MBA) at Tsinghua University PBCSF (People’s Bank of China School of Finance). Tengku Zafrul is also a Fellow Chartered Banker with the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers.
He started his career as a corporate finance executive at AmInvestment Bank in 1996. He then joined Credit Agricole as an investment analyst before moving up to director within a few years. This led him to become an advisor to the president of Tenaga Nasional Berhad.
He has also worked in CIMB and went on to helm many top roles over the years such as becoming the group managing director of Avenue Capital Resources (now ECM Libra), the CEO of Avenue Securities, the chairman of Avenue Asset Management, the head of investment banking for Citigroup Malaysia, and the CEO of Maybank Investment Bank.
Tengku Zafrul then left Maybank and returned to CIMB as its group chief executive officer.
He has won numerous awards throughout his corporate career. Some awards include:
- ASEAN CEO Award by Technology Business Review (2008)
- Malaysian Business Leadership Award 2009
- Most Promising Entrepreneurship Awards by Enterprise Asia (2008)
- Malaysian Business Leadership Award by The Leaders Magazine
- Masterclass CEO of the Year in the 7th Global Leadership Award organised by the American Leadership Development Association (2017)
- Best Chief Executive Officer for Investor Relations by the Malaysia Investor Relations Association (2017)
- TalentCorp’s Life at Work 2019 Award for the CEO category of Malaysian organizations
Tengku Zafrul’s foray into politics
On 9 March 2020, he resigned from his role before being appointed as the Finance Minister under former Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s administration after being made a Senator.
He returned in the same role under former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration from August 2021 to November 2022.
Even then, there were rumours and calls for him to resign as the Finance Minister.
READ MORE: “I’m Not Resigning” Says Finance Minister
He became the Minister of International Trade and Industry under Anwar’s administration from December 2022 to April 2023, before the ministry was renamed MITI.
In an interview with Sinar Daily to promote the Malay version of his book entitled ‘Mengharungi Badai Ekonomi: Mengemudi Bahtera Menelusuri Gelombang Covid-19,’ Tengku Zafrul said being the Finance Minister was the hardest time he had to face due to the country’s simultaneous financial, health, and political crises.
In UMNO, Tengku Zafrul has been the State Treasurer of Barisan Nasional (BN) Selangor since July 2022 and Division Chief of UMNO of Kota Raja since March 2023.
He resigned as BN Selangor’s State Treasurer in April 2024. He’s currently a member of the UMNO Supreme Council after winning the post in the 2023 UMNO leadership election.
Due to his illustrious career, he was one of the judges of the corporate reality television series The Firm in 2007.
He was one of the three millionaire judges on the show, the other two being the diamantaire Chan Boon Yong and the late Peter Pek, a Malaysian businessman who’s also the chief executive of World Branding Forum.
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