Chief Minister
The Chief Minister of Penang is Mr. Lim Guan Eng from the Democratic Action Party (DAP). Following the 12th general election of 8 March 2008, the coalition of DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) formed the state government, with the chief ministership going to the former that emerged as the single largest party in the state legislature.
Penang is the only state in Malaysia in which its chief ministership has been continuously held by a non-Malay ethnic Chinese since independence, reflecting the state's ethnic majority.
Penang has two deputy chief ministers: Mr. Mansor Othman from PKR is Deputy Chief Minister I and Dr. P. Ramasamy of DAP is Deputy Chief Minister II. The latter made history by becoming by becoming the first ethnic Tamil to hold the deputy chief minister post.
Ever since coming into power, Chief Minister Lim has been espousing a clean and efficient government based on CAT (Competency, Accountability, and Transparency).
The Chief Minister heads the State Executive Council, the highest administrative body in the state, which answers to the Legislative Assembly. The state Secretariat and other state or federal government departments assist the Executive Council in the state's administration. Most government offices are housed in the 65-storey tower block of the Tun Abdul Razak Complex (KOMTAR) in the heart of George Town.
When Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia, a coalition member of the Barisan Nasional (BN), headed the then state government, there have been occasional calls by United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) its other coalition member, to rotate the position of chief minister among the BN component parties. However, this has consistently been rejected by the BN leadership. Such demand reached new heights in 2006 on allegations of the marginalisation of the Malay populace. Interestingly, one of the more vocal proponents is Khairy Jamaludin, the son-in-law of former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. It is to be noted that during Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad's tenure of prime ministership, he refuted claims of marginalisation by alluding to the Malay-governed state of Kelantan. In fact, Malays in Penang are only second to their counterparts in the Klang Valley. They fare better than those from other states such as Kedah, Perlis and Terengganu.
Read more about this topic: Governance And Law Of Penang, Executive
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