List of Chief Ministers of Penang

Chief Minister of Penang Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang
Incumbent Lim Guan Eng since 11 March 2008
Government of Penang
Style	Yang Amat Berhormat (The Most Honourable)
Member of	Penang State Executive Council
Reports to	Penang State Legislative Assembly
Residence	Seri Teratai at Jalan Macalister (primary) Bungalow at Jalan Pinhorn (secondary)
Seat	Tingkat 28, KOMTAR, 10502 Penang
Appointer	Abdul Rahman Abbas as Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang
Term length	While commanding the confidence of the Penang State Legislative Assembly With State Elections held no more than five years apart
Constituting instrument	Constitution of the State of Penang
Inaugural holder	Wong Pow Nee
Formation	31 August 1957
Deputy	Rashid Hasnon P. Ramasamy
Website	cm.penang.gov.my

The Chief Minister of Penang is the head of government in the Malaysian state of Penang. According to convention, the Chief Minister is the leader of the majority party or largest coalition party of the Penang State Legislative Assembly.

The 4th and current Chief Minister of Penang is Lim Guan Eng, who took office on 11 March 2008.

Appointment

According to the state constitution, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Penang shall first appoint the Chief Minister to preside over the Executive Council and requires such Chief Minister 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 and must not a Malaysian citizen by naturalisation or by registration. The Yang di-Pertua Negeri on the Chief Minister'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 Yang di-Pertua Negeri 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 Chief Minister is bound by convention to resign immediately. The Yang di-Pertua Negeri's choice of replacement chief minister will be dictated by the circumstances. A member of the Executive Council other than the Chief Minister shall hold office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertua Negeri, unless the appointment of any member of the Executive Council shall have been revoked by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri on the advice of the Chief Minister but may at any time resign his office.

Following a resignation in other circumstances, defeated in an election or the death of a chief minister, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri will generally appoint as Chief Minister the person voted by the governing party as their new leader.

Powers

The power of the chief minister is subject to a number of limitations. Chief ministers 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 Yang di-Pertua Negeri. 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 chief minister's party will normally have a majority in the Legislative Assembly and party discipline is exceptionally strong in Penang politics, so passage of the government's legislation through the Legislative Assembly is mostly a formality.

Caretaker Chief Minister

The legislative assembly unless sooner dissolved by the Yang di-Pertua Negeri with His Excellency's own discretion on the advice of the chief minister 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 chief minister and the executive council remain in office in a caretaker capacity.

List of Chief Ministers of Penang

The following is the list of Chief Ministers of Penang since 1957:^[1]

Colour key (for political parties):
  Alliance Party   Barisan Nasional   Democratic Action Party

Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Political party[lower-alpha 1]		Term of office		Electoral mandates (Assembly)
1		Wong Pow Nee[lower-alpha 2] (1911–2002) MLC for Bukit Mertajam, 1957−1959 MLA for Bukit Mertajam, 1959−1969		Alliance (MCA)	31 August 1957	12 May 1969	– 1959 (1st) 1964 (2nd)
2		Lim Chong Eu (1919–2010) MLC for Kelawei, 1955–1959 MLA for Kota, 1964–1974 MLA for Padang Kota, 1974–1990		Gerakan[lower-alpha 3]	12 May 1969	25 October 1990	1969 (3rd) 1974 (4th) 1978 (5th) 1982 (6th) 1986 (7th)
				BN (Gerakan)
3		Koh Tsu Koon (b. 1949) MLA for Tanjong Bunga, 1990–2008		BN (Gerakan)	25 October 1990	11 March 2008	1990 (8th) 1995 (9th) 1999 (10th) 2004 (11th)
4		Lim Guan Eng (b. 1960) MLA for Air Puteh, since 2008		DAP	11 March 2008	Incumbent	2008 (12th) 2013 (13th)

Notes

1. This column names only the Chief Minister's party. The state government he heads may be a complex coalition of several parties and independents; those are not listed here.
2. Wong Pow Nee was formally appointed as first chief minister of Penang on 31 August 1957 since the proclamation of Malaya independence. He was re-elected to Penang State Legislative Assembly and re-appointed as chief minister in 1959 which is on the year Malaya first general election was held.
3. When Lim Chong Eu took the oath of office in 1969, Gerakan was under the Opposition at federal level before they joined the Barisan Nasional in 1973.

Living former Chief Ministers

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Koh Tsu Koon	1990–2008	26 August 1949 (age 67)

References

1. Penang www.worldstatesmen.org Accessed 12 June 2010