Menteri Besar of Kedah

Menteri Besar of Kedah
Coat of Arms of Kedah
Incumbent Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor since 17 May 2020
Government of Kedah
Style	Yang Amat Berhormat (The Most Honourable)
Status	Head of Government
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 (1881-03-01)
Deputy	Vacant
Website	mmk.kedah.gov.my/index.php/kerajaan/menteri-besar

The Menteri Besar of Kedah or the First Minister 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.

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.

Official residence

The official residence of the Menteri Besar of Kedah is Seri Mentaloon located at Jalan Anak Bukit, Kampung Mentaloon, Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia.

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:

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

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Term of office			Party		Election	Assembly
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Dato' Sir Mohamad Sheriff Osman (1890–1962)	1 February 1948	January 1954			UMNO	–	–
							Alliance (UMNO)
2		Tunku Ismail Tunku Yahya (1907–1969)	January 1954	24 May 1959			Alliance (UMNO)	–	–
3		Syed Omar Syed Abdullah Shahabuddin MLA for Baling Barat (1902–1967)	24 May 1959	7 December 1967	8 years, 198 days		Alliance (UMNO)	1959	1st
								1964	2nd
4		Dato' Seri Syed Ahmad Shahabuddin MLA for Padang Terap (until 1974) MLA for Kuala Nerang (from 1974) (1925–2008)	14 December 1967	13 July 1978	10 years, 212 days		Alliance (UMNO)	–
								1969	3rd
							BN (UMNO)	1974	4th
5		Syed Nahar Syed Sheh Shahabuddin (1934–1998) MLA for Langkawi	13 July 1978	28 January 1985	6 years, 200 days		BN (UMNO)	1978	5th
								1982	6th
6		Tan Sri Dato' Seri Osman Aroff (born 1940) MLA for Jitra	28 January 1985	16 June 1996	11 years, 141 days		BN (UMNO)	–
								1986	7th
								1990	8th
								1995	9th
7		Tan Sri Dato' Seri Sanusi Junid (1942–2018) MLA for Kuah	16 June 1996	11 December 1999	3 years, 179 days		BN (UMNO)	–
8		Dato' Seri Utama Syed Razak Syed Zain Barakbah (1944–2023) MLA for Kubang Rotan	11 December 1999	22 December 2005	6 years, 12 days		BN (UMNO)	1999	10th
								2004	11th
9		Dato' Seri Mahdzir Khalid (born 1960) MLA for Pedu	28 December 2005	9 March 2008	2 years, 73 days		BN (UMNO)	–
10		Dato' Seri Diraja Azizan Abdul Razak (1944–2013) MLA for Sungai Limau	9 March 2008	6 May 2013	5 years, 59 days		PR (PAS)	2008	12th
11		Dato' Seri Mukhriz Mahathir (born 1964) MLA for Ayer Hitam	6 May 2013	3 February 2016	2 years, 274 days		BN (UMNO)	2013	13th
12		Dato' Seri Diraja Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (born 1950) MLA for Bakar Bata	4 February 2016	10 May 2018	2 years, 96 days		BN (UMNO)	–
13		Dato' Seri Utama Mukhriz Mahathir (born 1964) MLA for Jitra	11 May 2018	17 May 2020	2 years, 7 days		PH (BERSATU)	2018	14th
14		Dato' Seri Haji Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor (born 1974) MLA for Jeneri	17 May 2020	Incumbent	4 years, 177 days		PN (PAS)	–
								2023	15th