Menteri Besar of Terengganu

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

Menteri Besar of Terengganu
Incumbent Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar since 12 May 2018
Government of Terengganu
Style	Yang Amat Berhormat (The Most Honourable)
Member of	Terengganu State Executive Council
Reports to	Terengganu State Legislative Assembly
Residence	Jalan Batu Buruk, Kampung Batu Buruk, 20400 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu
Seat	Tingkat 16, Wisma Darul Iman, 20502 Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu
Appointer	Mizan Zainal Abidin Sultan of Terengganu
Term length	5 years or lesser, renewable once (while commanding the confidence of the Terengganu State Legislative Assembly With State Elections held no more than five years apart)
Inaugural holder	Ngah Muhamad Yusof
Formation	21 April 1925 (1925-04-21)
Website	pmb.terengganu.gov.my

The 14th and current Menteri Besar of Terengganu is Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar, who took office on 10 May 2018.

Appointment

According to the state constitution, the Sultan of Terengganu 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 be 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 a 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, defeat 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. A 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 inability 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, a condition 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 Terengganu 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 from the date of dissolution for a general election to be held, 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 Terengganu

The following is the list of Menteris Besar of Terengganu since 1925:[1]

Colour key (for political parties):
  Alliance   Barisan Nasional   PAS

#	Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Political party[lower-alpha 1]	Term of office		Electoral mandates (Assembly)
1			Ngah Muhamad Yusof (1878–1940)	Independent	21 April 1925	28 June 1940	–
2			Tengku Omar Othman (1884–1944)		15 July 1940	9 Dec 1941	–
3			Da Omar Mahmud (1892–1953)		10 Dec 1941	16 December 1945	–
4			Tengku Mohamad Sultan Ahmad (1901–1957)		17 December 1945	26 December 1949	–
5			Kamaruddin Idris (1904–d. unknown)		27 December 1949	June 1959	–
6			Mohd Daud Abdul Samad (1926–1983) MLA for Setiu, 1959–1964	PMIP	29 June 1959	8 November 1961	1959 (1st)
7			Ibrahim Fikri Mohammad (b. unknown–d. unknown) MLC for Kuala Trengganu Utara, 1955–1959 MLA for Kuala Nerus, 1959–1973	Alliance (UMNO)	9 November 1961	3 September 1970	– (1st) 1964 (2nd) 1969 (3rd)
8			Mahmood Sulaiman (b. unknown–d. unknown) MLA for Ulu Trengganu Barat, 1964–1974		1 October 1970	4 September 1971	– (3rd)
9			Nik Hassan Wan Abdul Rahman (1928–d. unknown) MLA for Batu Rakit, 1971–1974		5 September 1971	3 August 1974	– (3rd)
				BN (UMNO)
10			Wan Mokhtar Ahmad (b. 1932) MLA for Chukai, 1974–1999		1 September 1974	2 December 1999	1974 (4th) 1978 (5th) 1982 (6th) 1986 (7th) 1990 (8th) 1995 (9th)
11			Abdul Hadi Awang (b. 1947) MLA for Marang, 1982–1986 MLA for Rhu Rendang, 1986-2018	PAS	2 December 1999	25 March 2004	1999 (10th)
12			Idris Jusoh (b. 1955) MLA for Jertih, 2004–2013	BN (UMNO)	25 March 2004	25 March 2008	2004 (11th)
13			Ahmad Said (b. 1957) MLA for Kijal, 1990–1999, since 2004		25 March 2008	12 May 2014	2008 (12th) 2013 (13th)
14			Ahmad Razif Abd Rahman (b. 1965) MLA for Seberang Takir, since 2008		12 May 2014	10 May 2018	2014–2018
15			Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar (b. 1970) MLA for Rhu Rendang, since 2018	PAS	10 May 2018	Incumbent	2018 (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 Menteri Besar

Name	Term of office	Date of birth
Wan Mokhtar Ahmad	1974–1999	21 March 1932 (age 88)
Abdul Hadi Awang	1999–2004	20 October 1947 (age 72)
Idris Jusoh	2004–2008	15 November 1955 (age 64)
Ahmad Said	2008–2014	15 February 1957 (age 63)
Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman	2014–2018	7 November 1965 (age 54)

References

1. "Terengganu". WorldStatesmen.org. Retrieved 13 April 2011.

External links

• Pejabat Menteri Besar Terengganu (Office of the Menteri Besar of Terengganu) (in Malay)