Ismail Kassim

Who is Ismail Kassim?

Dato' Ismail Kassim is a Malaysian politician and is the member of the Perlis State Legislative Assembly for Tambun Tulang. From 2008 to 2013 he was a member of the federal parliament for the Arau constituency in Perlis. He is a member of the governing United Malays National Organisation party and the brother of the former Chief Minister of Perlis, Shahidan Kassim.

Early in his political career, Ismail served as the head of UMNO's youth wing in Perlis. He contested the federal seat of Arau in a by-election in 1998, but was defeated by Hashim Jasin of PAS. His candidacy in 1998 was marred by accusations of cronyism arising from his brother's position as Menteri Besar of Perlis. At the time, UMNO was bleeding support due to allegations by supporters of UMNO leadership contender Anwar Ibrahim of cronyism and nepotism within the party. Selecting the brother of the state's Chief Minister as UMNO's candidate did little to neutralise the allegations. Ismail's defeat was the first time that UMNO had lost a parliamentary seat in Perlis to PAS.

Ismail was later appointed to the Dewan Negara, before re-contesting and winning Arau ten years later, in the 2008 general election, defeating his Parti Islam Se-Malaysia opponent by a 300 vote margin. His predecessor, Syed Razlan Syed Putra, had held the seat with a majority of 3,243.