Siti Ashah Ghazali

Summary

Datuk Siti Ashah binti Ghazali is a PAS politician who has represented the N33 Merbau Pulas state seat in Kedah since 2008 and serves as the state EXCO member for Rural Development, Poverty Eradication and Human Development under Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor. She is also the head of Dewan Muslimat PAS Kedah, a position she has held across multiple party election cycles. Her career spans both the Pakatan Rakyat and Perikatan Nasional state administrations in Kedah.

Biography

Datuk Siti Ashah binti Ghazali (born 3 October 1962) is a Malaysian politician representing the N33 Merbau Pulas state constituency in Kedah, and a member of Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS), a component party of the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition. She has served as a Member of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly (ADUN) for Merbau Pulas continuously since March 2008, making her one of the longer-serving assemblypeople in the state [1]. She first served as a member of the Kedah State Executive Council (EXCO) under Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak in the Pakatan Rakyat state administration from March 2008 until the collapse of that administration in May 2013 [1]. Following Perikatan Nasional's takeover of the Kedah state government in May 2020, she was reappointed as an EXCO member under Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor, retaining the Rural Development, Poverty Eradication and Human Development portfolio [2]. She was again sworn in to the same portfolio after PN won a landslide 33 out of 36 seats in the August 2023 Kedah state election, being the first of the ten new EXCO members to take her oath at Istana Anak Bukit [3][2]. Within PAS, she serves as the head of Dewan Muslimat PAS Kedah; she was returned unopposed for the 2021–2023 term at the party's 52nd Annual Muktamar [4]. Wikidata records a conflicting birth year of 1951 in one imported entry; the English Wikipedia entry citing 1962 is treated as the more authoritative figure for this profile.

Known for

Siti Ashah is identified principally as the PAS Kedah Muslimat chief and a multi-term state EXCO member holding the Rural Development, Poverty Eradication and Human Development portfolio. She has held the Merbau Pulas seat across four successive general elections — 2008, 2013, 2018 and 2023 — serving under both Pakatan Rakyat and Perikatan Nasional state administrations. She is a consistent advocate for expanding women's participation in PAS policy-making and electoral strategy in Kedah.

Political positions

Based on sourced reporting, Siti Ashah has publicly advocated for greater inclusion of women as policy-makers within PAS, stating that women should be given equal opportunities to lead and to speak freely. She has emphasised that PAS's Muslimat wing must engage youth voters strategically following the lowering of the voting age to 18 and the introduction of automatic voter registration. She has also spoken in support of rural infrastructure development in her capacity as EXCO for Rural Development, including overseeing road construction and community facilities projects such as KEMAS Tabika buildings in the Kedah interior. Her governance positions are aligned with PAS's broader platform of Islamic-values-based governance under the PN Kedah state administration.

Political career

1. March 2008First elected as ADUN for N33 Merbau Pulas under PAS/Pakatan Rakyat; simultaneously appointed to the Kedah State Executive Council (EXCO) under Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak.⛓
2. May 2013Re-elected to Merbau Pulas in GE13. The Pakatan Rakyat Kedah state administration subsequently collapsed in May 2013, ending her first EXCO tenure.⛓
3. May 2018Re-elected to Merbau Pulas in GE14; Dewan Muslimat PAS Kedah won the seat as part of its five-candidate bloc that election cycle.⛓
4. May 2020Reappointed as Kedah EXCO member under PN Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor following PAS-led coalition's assumption of the Kedah state government.⛓
5. May 2022Re-sworn into office, retaining the EXCO portfolio for Rural Development, Poverty Eradication and Human Development for a further two-year term.⛓
6. October 2021Re-elected unopposed as head of Dewan Muslimat PAS Kedah for the 2021–2023 term at the party's 52nd Annual Muktamar.⛓
7. August 2023Re-elected to N33 Merbau Pulas in the 2023 Kedah state election under the PN banner; PN won 33 of 36 Kedah seats. Sworn in as EXCO for a new term on 21 August 2023, being the first of ten members to take the oath at Istana Anak Bukit.⛓

Election history

• 2023Merbau Pulas (N33), KedahWon⛓
• 2018Merbau Pulas (N33), KedahWon⛓
• 2013Merbau Pulas (N33), KedahWon⛓
• 2008Merbau Pulas (N33), KedahWon⛓

Perspectives on key issues

• VerifiedFactsSiti Ashah has held the Merbau Pulas seat in four consecutive general elections (2008, 2013, 2018, 2023) and has served as Kedah EXCO for Rural Development, Poverty Eradication and Human Development under both Pakatan Rakyat and Perikatan Nasional administrations.⛓
• GovernmentAs a sworn EXCO member in the PN Kedah administration, Siti Ashah was confirmed in her portfolio by Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor following both the 2020 government transition and the 2023 state election. Bernama confirmed she was the first of ten EXCO members to take the oath at Istana Anak Bukit in August 2023.⛓
• IndustryIn her capacity as Rural Development EXCO, Siti Ashah has publicly cited construction milestones for rural road and community facility projects in Kedah, including a road project along the Sungai Muda riverbank reported to be 88 per cent complete at time of inspection.⛓