retain the seat in 2008, 2013 and 2018 general elections. Nazri was originally the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of legal affairs and judicial reform since 2004. After the 2008 general election, which saw the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition's majority in Parliament significantly reduced, the then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi reshuffled his cabinet and gave Nazri's legal affairs portfolio to Zaid Ibrahim but only lasted for 6 months when Zaid resigned in September 2008. He was the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of law and parliamentary affairs . Controversies and criticism Racism allegation In June 2005, Nazri caused controversy when he shouted the phrase "racist" (or variants of it) 28 times in Parliament against the Member of the Opposition, M. Kulasegaran. A request by opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) lawmaker Fong Po Kuan for Nazri to take back his comments went unheeded. The incident occurred during a debate on the Malaysian Medical Council's derecognition of Crimea State Medical University (CSMU) medical degrees; most Malaysian students sent to study there were of Indian extraction. Nazri has since used the phrase "bloody racist" on Tun Dr. Mahathir because the latter supports a controversial government programme that allegedly indoctrinates racist sentiments in civil servants and public university students. Statement over the 1988 Judicial crisis Opposition Member of Parliament Karpal Singh said Nazri had misled Parliament when he said judges involved in the 1988 Judicial crisis were not sacked but were asked to take early retirement. Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also refuted Nazri's suggestion saying Tun Salleh Abas and two of the five other judges involved in the 1988 judicial crisis had not been dismissed but were asked to retire early. He said Salleh Abas was sacked as Lord President but obtained a pension on grounds of compassion. Defender of high-profile politician In 2006, he been called the hatchetman of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, then Prime Minister of Malaysia, by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, for defending Abdullah in Mahathir's ongoing criticisms against the government. In 2009, photos surfaced of a woman and a man rumoured to be Nazri in a compromising position but several politicians who were close to him said the man in the pictures is not him. In September 2010, he came out openly in the defence of Prime Minister Najib's 1Malaysia policy, saying that he is a Malaysian first and a Malay next.