Penang State Legislative Assembly

Penang State Legislative Assembly Dewan Undangan Negeri Pulau Pinang
Type
Type	Unicameral
Leadership
Speaker	Abdul Halim Hussain, Pakatan Rakyat - PKR
Chief Minister	Lim Guan Eng, Pakatan Rakyat - DAP since March 8, 2008
Opposition Leader	Azhar Ibrahim, Barisan Nasional - UMNO
Members	40
Meeting place
Light Street, George Town
Website
http://dun.penang.gov.my/

The Penang State Legislative Assembly is the state legislature of the Malaysian state of Penang. It is a unicameral institution, consisting of a total of 40 lawmakers.

The unicameral state legislature, whose members are called state assemblymen, convenes at the neoclassical Legislative Assembly building at Light Street. It has 40 seats, 29 of which are held by the Pakatan Rakyat compromising the Democratic Action Party which has 19 seats, nine by Parti Keadilan Rakyat and one by Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party defeating the Barisan Nasional with only 11 seats since the 2008 general elections. It was a sharp reversal from the 38 seats held by BN in the 2004 elections and only the second time since Independence that the state fell into non-BN control, the last being in 1969.

Role

The Penang State 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.^[1] 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 Chief Minister by the Governor of Penang. The Chief Minister heads the state's executive, known as the State EXCO, whose members are also drawn from the Assembly.

State EXCO

Penang State EXCO^[2]

Portfolio	EXCO
Chief Minister Land Affairs and Land Development, Entrepreneur Development, Information and Heritage	Lim Guan Eng
Deputy Chief Minister I Industry Development, International Trade, Cooperatives and Societal Relationship	Mansor Othman
Deputy Chief Minister II State Economic Planning, Education and Human Resources, Science, Technology and Innovation	P. Ramasamy
Local Government and Traffic Management	Chow Kon Yeow
Religious Affairs, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs	Abdul Malik Abul Kassim
Public Works, Utilities and Transport	Lim Hock Seng
Tourism Development, Culture, Arts and Heritage	Law Heng Kiang
Health and Welfare, Caring Society and Environment	Phee Boon Poh
Agriculture and Agro-based Industries, Rural Development and Flood Mitigation	Law Choo Kiang
Town and Countryside Planning, Housing	Wong Hon Fai
Youth and Sports, Women, Family and Community Development	Ong Kok Fooi
Non-representatives
State Secretary	Zainal Rahim Seman

Committees

The State Assembly also consists of committees to handle administrative matters. The committees include:^[3]

• Public Accounts Committee
• Rights and Privileges Committee
• Assembly Committee
• Rules of Proceedings Committee
• Constitutional Committee

Current Composition

For complete list of members, see List of Penang State Assemblymen.

e • d Summary of the 8 March 2008 Penang State Assembly election results

	Votes	% of vote	Seats	% of seats	+/–
Pakatan Rakyat: (Formal coalition formed after election)	319,757	58.9	29	72.5	27
Democratic Action Party (DAP)	175,067	32.2	19	47.5	18
Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)	110,872	20.4	9	22.5	9
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS)	33,818	6.2	1	2.5
Barisan Nasional:	222,339	41.0	11	27.5	27
United Malays National Organization (UMNO)	93,923	17.3	11	27.5	3
Malaysian People's Movement Party (Gerakan)	71,255	13.1	0	0.0	13
Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)	50,123	9.2	0	0.0	9
Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)	7,038	1.3	0	0.0	2
Independents	760	0.1	0	0.0
Overall total	542,856	100	40	100
Source: The Star[4], Malaysia Penanti State Assemblyman Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin (PKR) resigned in April 2009[5] and has since been replaced by Mansor Othman (PKR) in a by-election.[6]

See also

• Penang State Assembly Building

References

1. ^ Role and Membership of the State Assembly Penang State Assembly Portal
2. ^ Penang State Government: EXCO
3. ^ List of State Assembly Committees Penang State Assembly Portal
4. ^ MALAYSIA DECIDES 2008 > General Election 2008 Results > Penang
5. ^ Mohammad Fairus quits Penanti seat The Nut Graph. April 16, 2009
6. ^ Penanti: Dr Mansor wins with 6,052 votes out of 7,100 The Star. May 31, 2009

External links

• Penang State Assembly Portal