Penang State Legislative Assembly


The Penang State Legislative Assembly is the legislature of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is a unicameral institution, consisting of a total of 40 elected lawmakers representing single-member constituencies throughout Penang. The state legislature, whose members are called State Assemblymen, convenes at the Penang State Assembly Building in Penang's capital city of George Town. The Penang State Executive Council, the executive branch of the Penang state government, is drawn from among the State Assemblymen.
Out of the 40 seats, 33 are held by the Pakatan Harapan ruling coalition after the 2018 State Election. Within the coalition, the Democratic Action Party holds 19 seats, the People's Justice Party 12 seats, and the National Trust Party holds two seats. The PH coalition thus commands a supermajority in the legislature.
Meanwhile, the opposition is formed by the Perikatan Nasional where all are from Barisan Nasional, Malaysian United Indigenous Party, and the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which currently controls just seven seats and they support current federal government.

Current composition

Seating arrangement

The seating arrangement of the Penang State Legislative Assembly is as follows.

Role

The Penang State Legislative Assembly's main function is to enact legislation and policies relating to the State List and Joint List as defined in the Federal Constitution. Its members also provide oversight on the state's executive branch of government, ensuring the state departments and agencies enforce the aforementioned legislation. Debates in the Assembly are presided over by the Speaker.
The leader of the party or coalition with a majority in the Assembly is appointed as the Chief Minister by the Governor of Penang. The Chief Minister heads the state's executive, known as the State Executive Council, whose members are also drawn from the Assembly.

Committees

The State Assembly also consists of committees to handle administrative matters. The committees include:
The following is the Speaker of the Penang State Legislative Assembly Roll of Honour, since 1959:
No.SpeakerTerm startTerm end
1Sulaiman Ahmad6 January 19591 April 1964
1Sulaiman Ahmad25 April 196419 March 1969
2Harun Sirat10 May 196931 July 1974
2Harun Sirat24 August 197416 June 1978
3Hassan Md. Noh8 July 197829 March 1982
4Teh Ewe Lim22 April 198219 July 1986
5Ooi Ean Kwong3 August 19865 October 1990
6Abdul Rahman Abbas21 October 19904 April 1995
7Yahaya Abdul Hamid25 April 199510 November 1999
7Yahaya Abdul Hamid29 November 19992 March 2004
7Yahaya Abdul Hamid21 March 200412 February 2008
8Abdul Halim Hussain8 March 200827 June 2013
9Law Choo Kiang28 June 2013Incumbent

Election pendulum

The 14th General Election witnessed 37 governmental seats and 3 non-governmental seats filled the Penang State Legislative Assembly. The government side has 25 safe seats and 2 fairly safe seats. However, none of the non-government side has safe and fairly safe seat.