Menteri Besar of Kedah

The Menteri Besar of Kedah is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Kedah. According to convention, the Menteri Besar is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly

Menteri Besar of Kedah
Incumbent Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor since 17 May 2020
Government of Kedah
Style	Yang Amat Berhormat (The Most Honourable)
Member of	Kedah State Executive Council
Reports to	Kedah State Legislative Assembly
Residence	Seri Mentaloon, Alor Setar, Kedah
Seat	Aras 3, Blok A, Wisma Darul Aman, 05503 Alor Setar, Kedah
Appointer	Sallehuddin Sultan of Kedah
Term length	5 years or lesser, renewable once (while commanding the confidence of the Kedah State Legislative Assembly With State Elections held no more than five years apart)
Inaugural holder	Wan Shammiul Ahmad Wan Farriul Osman
Formation	1 March 1881
Deputy	Vacant
Website	mmk.kedah.gov.my/index.php/kerajaan/menteri-besar

Appointment

According to the state constitution, the Sultan of Kedah shall first appoint the Menteri Besar to preside over the Executive Council and requires such Menteri Besar to be a member of the Legislative Assembly who in his judgment is likely to command the confidence of the majority of the members of the Assembly, must be an ethnic Malay who professes the religion of Islam and must not a Malaysian citizen by naturalisation or by registration. The Sultan on the Menteri Besar's advice shall appoint not more than ten nor less than four members from among the members of the Legislative Assembly.

The member of the Executive Council must take and subscribe in the presence of the Sultan the oath of office and allegiance as well as the oath of secrecy before they can exercise the functions of office. The Executive Council shall be collectively responsible to the Legislative Assembly. The members of the Executive Council shall not hold any office of profit and engage in any trade, business or profession that will cause conflict of interest.

If a government cannot get its appropriation (budget) legislation passed by the Legislative Assembly, or the Legislative Assembly passes a vote of "no confidence" in the government, the Menteri Besar is bound by convention to resign immediately. The Sultan's choice of replacement Menteri Besar will be dictated by the circumstances. A member of the Executive Council other than the Menteri Besar shall hold office during the pleasure of the Sultan, unless the appointment of any member of the Executive Council shall have been revoked by the Sultan on the advice of the Menteri Besar but may at any time resign his office.

Following a resignation in other circumstances, defeated in an election or the death of the Menteri Besar, the Sultan will generally appoint as Menteri Besar the person voted by the governing party as their new leader.

Powers

The power of the Menteri Besar is subject to a number of limitations. Menteri Besar removed as leader of his or her party, or whose government loses a vote of no confidence in the Legislative Assembly, must advise a state election or resign the office or be dismissed by the Sultan. The defeat of a supply bill (one that concerns the spending of money) or unable to pass important policy-related legislation is seen to require the resignation of the government or dissolution of Legislative Assembly, much like a non-confidence vote, since a government that cannot spend money is hamstrung, also called loss of supply.

The Menteri Besar's party will normally have a majority in the Legislative Assembly and party discipline is exceptionally strong in Kedah politics, so passage of the government's legislation through the Legislative Assembly is mostly a formality.

Caretaker Menteri Besar

The legislative assembly unless sooner dissolved by the Sultan with His Majesty's own discretion on the advice of the Menteri Besar shall continue for five years from the date of its first meeting. The state constitution permits a delay of 60 days of general election to be held from the date of dissolution and the legislative assembly shall be summoned to meet on a date not later than 120 days from the date of dissolution. Conventionally, between the dissolution of one legislative assembly and the convening of the next, the Menteri Besar and the executive council remain in office in a caretaker capacity.

List of Menteris Besar of Kedah

The following is the list of Menteris Besar of Kedah since 1948:[1][2]

Colour key (for political parties):
  UMNO   Alliance /   Barisan Nasional   PAS   Pakatan Harapan   Perikatan Nasional

#	Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Political party[lower-alpha 1]	Term of office		Electoral mandates (Assembly)
1			Mohamad Sheriff Osman (1890–1962)	UMNO	1 February 1948	January 1954	–
				Alliance (UMNO)
2			Tunku Ismail Tunku Yahya (1907–d. unknown)		January 1954	24 May 1959	–
3			Syed Omar Syed Abdullah Shahabuddin (1902–1967) MLA for Baling Barat, 1959–1967		24 May 1959	7 December 1967	1959 (1st) 1964 (2nd)
4			Syed Ahmad Syed Mahmud Shahabuddin (1925–2008) MLA for Padang Terap, 1959–1974 MLA for Kuala Nerang 1974–1978		14 December 1967	13 July 1978	– (2nd) 1969 (3rd) 1974 (4th)
				BN (UMNO)
5			Syed Nahar Syed Sheh Shahabuddin (1934–1998) MLA for Jerlun-Kodiang, 1969–1974 MLA for Langkawi, 1978–1986		13 July 1978	28 January 1985	1978 (5th) 1982 (6th)
6			Osman Aroff (b. 1940) MLA for Jitra, 1969–1999		28 January 1985	16 June 1996	– (6th) 1986 (7th) 1990 (8th) 1995 (9th)
7			Sanusi Junid (b. 1943-2018) MLA for Kuah, 1995–2004		16 June 1996	11 December 1999	– (9th)
8			Syed Razak Syed Zain Barakbah (b. 1944) MLA for Pengkalan Kundor, 1986–1995 MLA for Kubang Rotan, 1995–2008		11 December 1999	22 December 2005	1999 (10th) 2004 (11th)
9			Mahdzir Khalid (b. 1960) MLA for Pedu, 2004–2013		28 December 2005	9 March 2008	– (11th)
10			Azizan Abdul Razak (1944–2013) MLA for Sala, 1995–2004 MLA for Sungai Limau, 2004–2013	PR (PAS)	9 March 2008	6 May 2013	2008 (12th)
11			Mukhriz Mahathir (b. 1964) MLA for Ayer Hitam, 2013-2018 MLA for Jitra, since 2018	BN (UMNO)	6 May 2013	3 February 2016	2013 (13th)
12			Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (b. 1950) MLA for Alor Merah, 1995–2004 MLA for Bakar Bata, 2004-2018		4 February 2016	10 May 2018	– (13th)
13			Mukhriz Mahathir (b. 1964) MLA for Ayer Hitam, 2013-2018 MLA for Jitra, since 2018	PH (BERSATU)	11 May 2018	17 May 2020	2018 (14th)
14			Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (b. 1974) MLA for Jeneri,since 2018	PN (PAS)	17 May 2020	Incumbent	– (14th)

1. This column names only the Menteri Besar's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; those are not listed here.

Living former Menteris Besar

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Osman Aroff	1985–1996	23 November 1940 (age 80)
Syed Razak Syed Zain Barakbah	1999–2005	22 August 1944 (age 76)
Mahdzir Khalid	2005–2008	15 December 1960 (age 60)
Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah	2016–2018	10 October 1950 (age 70)
Mukhriz Mahathir	2013–2016 2018–2020	25 November 1964 (age 56)

References

1. "Kedah". WorldStatesmen.org. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
2. https://web.archive.org/web/20141017065500/http://mmk.kedah.gov.my/index.php/kerajaan/menteri-besar/mantan-menteri-besar