Mohd Puad Zarkashi


Mohd Puad Zarkashi is a Malaysian politician from the United Malays National Organisation, a major component party in the Barisan Nasional coalition. He was the Member of Parliament for the Batu Pahat constituency in the state of Johor from 2008 to 2013.
Puad is of Banjar descent. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy conferred by the University of Hull.
Puad was elected at the 2008 election for the seat previously held by UMNO's Junaidy Abdul Wahab. He had previously been a Senator. Puad served one term in Parliament, after being defeated in the 2013 election by Mohd Idris Jusi of the opposition People's Justice Party. Despite his defeat, he was re-elected to UMNO's 25-member Supreme Council later in the year. Puad was dropped as candidate by UMNO in the 2018 general election.
In April 2008, Puad called for the resignation of then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi after UMNO's performance in the 2008 election.
When Najib Razak replaced Abdullah as Prime Minister in April 2009, Puad was appointed a Deputy Education Minister.
In September 2012, Puad stated his belief that homosexuals could be identified through various means including the use of "V-Neck and sleeveless clothing" as well as a person's personal preference for "tight and light-colored clothing". He stated that these characteristics were "symptoms" which would allow parents to spot whether or not their son may be a homosexual, supporting the need to discipline them into turning straight "like it's a disease which can be cured" – a stance that is also endorsed by Malaysia's Education Ministry because they believe that this could actually affect one's ability to learn.
Puad was appointed the Special Affairs Department director-general in March 2015 but he quit on 25 April 2018 in protest for not being picked as a BN candidate for the 2018 general election. JASA was somehow disbanded months later by the new Pakatan Harapan government after the downfall of the BN in the 2018 election.

Election results

Honours