Muhammad bin Muhammad Taib, also fondly known as Mat Taib and also Mat Tyson, is a Malaysian politician who currently is a member of United Malays National Organisation, a major component of Barisan Nasional coalition. He was the former Menteri Besar of Selangor and the former Rural and Regional Development Minister. Muhammad was also the former UMNO vice-president.
Muhammad married first his wife Asbi Rohani Asnan during his early teaching day in Tanjung Malim and they have three daughters and one son. He married the second time Tengku Puteri Zahariah who is the daughter of Sultan of Selangor. He was given the style YangAmatMulia during this time, and later, YangBerhormatMulia. The couple has one son but they had divorced. He also married Rodzina Hayati Tajul Ariffin, a divorcee with a step son.
Political career
The political veteran joined UMNO in 1964, and quickly rose within its ranks to be appointed as Selangor Umno deputy state liaison committee chief and elected UMNO vice-president. In 1993, Muhammad and two other top party leaders then - Najib Razak and Muhyiddin Yassin - won the vice-presidency after they joined Anwar Ibrahim who won the deputy presidency uncontested; forming Vision Team to face the UMNO internal party election. Muhammad was former Selangor state assemblyman of Batang Kali constituency for four terms, winning in the general elections of 1982, 1986, 1990 and 1995. He served as Menteri Besar of Selangor from 1986 to 1997. However, he was forced to resign as Selangor Menteri Besar in April 1997 after he was charged in Australia over currency irregularities involving more than $A1.2 million. In 2006, he was appointed as a senator in the Dewan Negara, the upper house of the Parliament of Malaysia. This allowed him to be appointed as a minister by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in March 2008. He contested the post of UMNO deputy president in March 2009 but came out second to Muhyiddin Yassin. His stint in the Cabinet ended after a reshuffling by new Prime Minister Najib Razak in April 2009. On 14 April 2013, Muhammad joined opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, a component party of Pakatan Rakyat then. He was formally introduced by the party on 22 April 2013, just two days after the 13th General Election nomination day to avoid allegations that he took the step to be nominated in the general election. PAS is the only party that can lead Malaysia towards Islam, Muhammad said. In previous statements Muhammad was a strong critic for the Pakatan Rakyat led state government of Selangor. He stated that Pakatan Rakyat Selangor, under the helm of the Menteri Besar of Selangor Khalid Ibrahim was losing grip of the state. He even stated that he believes that Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the accuser of Anwar Ibrahim sexual escapades was the real victims and no one is helping Saiful Bukhari. On 10 September 2015, Muhammad quit PAS and joined People's Justice Party of the Pakatan Harapan opposition coalition. On 17 September 2017, Muhammad rejoined UMNO announced by Najib Razak in a special media conference after leaving it to be with the opposition for four years.
Controversies
In 1987, Muhammad when he was still the Menteri Besar angered the Sultan of Selangor when it was found that he had secretly married the ruler's daughter Tengku Puteri Zahariah in Sungai Golok, Thailand. The late sultan later accepted his apologies. In 1997, Muhammad was forced to resign after he was charged in Australia with making false currency declarations after millions of dollars were found in his suitcase as he was leaving the country. However, he was found not guilty, after claiming he could not understand the declaration forms which were in English. Somehow, in a later development, an investigative committee found that the court had erred in its judgment. The prosecution at Brisbane Federal Court on 19 August 1997 as for his failure to declare bringing over A$5,000. He and his wife stay a few weeks in Brisbane and wishing to build a luxury house on a 4,500 hectare land at Gold Coast, in Queensland. After that he wish to fly to New Zealand. The land at Sovereign Island was registered under his wife name Asbi Rohani Binti Asnan which was bought a year earlier with $3 million. Muhammad Taib was charged with failure to declare his assets.
