Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff

Dato' Hajjah Siti Zailah binti Mohd Yusoff (Jawi: سيتي زايله بنت محمد يوسف; born 12 October 1963) is a Malaysian politician and the Member of the Parliament of Malaysia for the Rantau Panjang constituency in Kelantan. She is a member of Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and the head of the party's women's wing.[1]

In this Malay name, the name Mohd Yusoff is a patronymic, not a family name, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Siti Zailah.

Yang Berhormat Dato' Hajjah Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff DJMK MP
سيتي زايله بنت محمد يوسف
Deputy Minister of Women, Family and Community Development
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 March 2020
Monarch	Abdullah
Prime Minister	Muhyiddin Yassin
Minister	Rina Harun
Preceded by	Hannah Yeoh
Constituency	Rantau Panjang
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Rantau Panjang
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 March 2008
Preceded by	Abdul Fatah Harun (PAS)
Majority	4,486 (2008) 6,362 (2013) 6,150 (2018)
Personal details
Born	Siti Zailah binti Mohd Yusoff (1963-10-12) 12 October 1963 Kelantan, Malaysia
Citizenship	Malaysian
Nationality	Malaysia
Political party	Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)
Other political affiliations	People's Alliance (PR) (2008–2015) Ideas of Prosperity (GS) (2016–present) Perikatan Nasional (PN) (2020-present) Muafakat Nasional (MN) (2019-present)
Occupation	Politician
Website	sitizailah.blogspot.com
Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff on Parliament of Malaysia

Political career

She was elected to the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia for Rantau Panjang in the 2008 general election.[2] Before her election she was a Senator for Kelantan, an appointed position.[3] She won the seat again in the 2013 general election.

In 2011 she was elected as the head of PAS Muslimat, the women's wing of PAS. She retained the post in the 2013 party elections.[4]

Controversies

In July 2014, after the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, Siti Zailah stated that in light of the possibility of "Allah's wrath" Malaysia Airlines should stop serving alcohol and revise the dress code of the female flight attendants, and especially so for Muslim females. Empower, the non-governmental organization criticized her statements, accusing them of being "insensitive and irrelevant".[5]

During the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, Siti Zailah, the newly appointed deputy minister for women and family development brought up the question of shariah-compliant uniforms at a time when airline staff were facing likely job cuts, resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak causing a worldwide collapse in travel demand, in Parliament. She faced backlash from the National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia[6], and from both the public and former Youth and Sports minister YB Syed Saddiq[7].

Within the same period, she made a post on Twitter, noting that “The fatality rate for COVID-19 is only just 1%, but the chances of us dying at any moment is 100%. Renew our faith and be afraid of Allah, as death is something that is genuine, and comes without invitation.” After much blowback on social media, she temporarily closed her Twitter account[6].

Election results

Parliament of Malaysia: P23 Rantau Panjang, Kelantan[8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

Year			Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2008		Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS)	19,344	54.57%		Mohd Afandi Yusoff (UMNO)	14,858	41.91%	35,451	4,486	78.11%
						Isma Airfath Hassanuddin (IND)	330	0.93%
2013		Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS)	23,724	56.57%		Ghazali Ismail (UMNO)	17,448	41.61%	41,934	6,362	79.27%
2018		Siti Zailah Mohd Yusoff (PAS)	24,581	50.82%		Abdullah Mat Yasim (UMNO)	18,431	38.10%	49,639	6,150	75.08%
						Wan Shah Jihan Wan Din (AMANAH)	5,361	11.08%

Honours

•  Kelantan :
  • Knight Commander of the Order of the Life of the Crown of Kelantan (DJMK) - Dato' (2019)[15]

See also

• Rantau Panjang (federal constituency)

References

1. "Siti Zailah binti Mohd Yusoff, Y.B. Puan" (in Malay). Parliament of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
2. "Malaysia Decides 2008". The Star (Malaysia). Retrieved 20 December 2009.
3. "Kelantan Continues To Add Colour To Local Politics". Bernama. 24 February 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
4. "Siti Zailah retains PAS Muslimat top post". The Star. 21 November 2013. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
5. Hodal, Kate. "MH370 families offer to counsel bereaved relatives of MH17 victims" (Archived 3 August 2014 at WebCite). The Guardian. 27 July 2014. Retrieved on 3 August 2014.
6. "Deputy minister closes Twitter account after uproar over Covid-19 post". Free Malaysia Today. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
7. tan, tarrence (14 March 2020). "Dep Women and Family Minister slammed for emphasising syariah-compliant attire for flight attendants". The Star. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
8. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum Parlimen/Dewan Undangan Negeri". Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 27 May 2010. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
9. "Malaysia General Election". undiinfo Malaysian Election Data. Malaysiakini. Retrieved 19 April 2013. Results only available from the 2004 election (GE11).
10. "KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM 13". Sistem Pengurusan Maklumat Pilihan Raya Umum (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 24 March 2017.Results only available for the 2013 election.
11. "my undi : Kawasan & Calon-Calon PRU13 : Keputusan PRU13 (Archived copy)". www.myundi.com.my. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
12. "Keputusan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13". Utusan Malaysia. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
13. "SEMAKAN KEPUTUSAN PILIHAN RAYA UMUM KE - 14" (in Malay). Election Commission of Malaysia. Retrieved 17 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
14. "The Star Online GE14". The Star. Retrieved 24 May 2018. Percentage figures based on total turnout.
15. "Ketua Audit Negara dahului senarai 623 penerima kehormatan Kelantan" (in Malay). Bernama. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.