Melaka Election: Ab Rauf Sworn In for Second Term as Chief Minister
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Credit : Bernama's X
AYER KEROH, Melaka, November 15, 2026 — Datuk Seri Dr Ab Rauf Yusoh was sworn in as Melaka Chief Minister for a second term on Sunday, a day after the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Perikatan Nasional (PN) partnership won more than two-thirds of the seats in the 16th state election.
Ab Rauf, 65, the assemblyman for Tanjung Bidara, took his oath before the Yang Dipertua Negeri, Tun Mohd Ali Mohd Rustam, at 12.10pm in the main hall of the Governor’s Office at Seri Negeri in Ayer Keroh, Bernama reported. The ceremony included the presentation of his instrument of appointment, followed by the oaths of office, allegiance and secrecy and the signing of the oath document, the New Straits Times and The Sun reported.
The swearing-in was witnessed by State Secretary Datuk Salhah Salleh and the candidates who won their seats on Saturday. BN chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi attended, together with MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong and MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan, according to Bernama.
Bernama said Ahmad Zahid had earlier been received by the Yang Dipertua Negeri at Istana Melaka in Bukit Beruang, where he submitted the letter nominating Ab Rauf for the post. BN and PN had named Ab Rauf as their choice for chief minister on Saturday night as the results came in.
Under the Election Commission’s (SPR) official results, BN won 21 of the 28 state seats, PN three and Pakatan Harapan (PH) four, all of them through DAP. Ab Rauf held Tanjung Bidara with a majority of 8,615 votes over PH’s Yunazri Mustamiri in a straight fight, compared with a margin of 364 votes when he first won the seat in 2021.
On the other side of the new assembly, Melaka PH chairman Adly Zahari has said the coalition accepts the outcome, while DAP, which kept its four seats, has pledged to serve as a check and balance on the state government.
Born on September 20, 1961, in Masjid Tanah, Ab Rauf built a career in business before entering front-line politics. Bernama said he founded Asia Lab Malaysia Sdn Bhd in 1985, worked in information technology at Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) from 1993 to 1997, and sat on the boards of Europlus Berhad and Talam Corporation Berhad between 1998 and 2007. He holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Gloucestershire and was recently awarded a Doctor of Business Administration by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).
In UMNO, he has led the Masjid Tanah division since 2013 and has chaired the Melaka UMNO and BN liaison bodies since 2018. He also served as UMNO working secretary from 2009 to 2018. He was Speaker of the Melaka State Assembly from 2020 to 2021 and joined the state executive council under Datuk Seri Sulaiman Md Ali after the 2021 election, FMT reported.
Ab Rauf was first sworn in as chief minister on March 31, 2023, replacing Sulaiman, who had resigned.
Credit : Bernama
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