Menteri Besar of Perak

According to the state constitution, the Sultan of Perak 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hold office during the pleasure of the Sultan, unless the appointment of any member of the Executive Council shall have been revoked by the Sultan on the advice of the Menteri Besar but may at any time resign his office.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.

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 Perak politics, so passage of the government's legislation through the Legislative Assembly is mostly a formality.

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.

The following is the list of Menteris Besar of Perak since 1948:[1]

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

#	Portrait		Name (Birth–Death) Constituency	Political party[lower-alpha 1]	Term of office		Electoral mandates (Assembly)
1			Abdul Wahab Toh Muda Abdul Aziz (1905–1959)	UMNO	1 February 1948	1 August 1957	–
				IND
				NAP
2			Mohamed Ghazali Jawi (1924–1982) MLC for Larut-South Matang, 1955–1959 MLA for Grik, 1959–1960 Kenering, 1974–1977	Alliance (UMNO)	1 August 1957	16 April 1960	– 1959 (1st)
3			Shaari Shafie (1912–1966) MLC for Sungei Siput, 1954–1959 MLA for Senggang, 1959–1964		16 April 1960	7 May 1964	– (1st)
4			Ahmad Said (1919–1974) MLA for Lenggong, 1959–1974		7 May 1964	18 March 1970	1964 (2nd) 1969 (3rd)
5			Kamaruddin Mohd. Isa (1930–1989)[2] MLA for Larut, 1959–1974		18 March 1970	4 September 1974	– (3rd)
				BN (UMNO)
6			Mohamed Ghazali Jawi (1924–1982)[3] MLC for Larut-South Matang, 1955–1959 MLA for Grik, 1959–1960 Kenering, 1974–1977		4 September 1974	1 October 1977	1974 (4th)
7			Wan Mohamed Wan Teh (1929–1993) MLA for Grik, 1969–1974 Temengor, 1974–1978 Kenering, 1978–1983		1 October 1977	1 March 1983	– (4th) 1978 (5th) 1982 (6th)
8			Ramli Ngah Talib (b. 1941) MLA for Kampong Gajah, 1978–1999		1 March 1983	3 December 1999	– (6th) 1986 (7th) 1990 (8th) 1995 (9th)
9			Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali (b. 1944) MLA for Kenering, 1977–1978, 1999–2004 Pengkalan Hulu, 2004–2013		3 December 1999	17 March 2008	1999 (10th) 2004 (11th)
10			Ir. Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (b. 1957) MLA for Pasir Panjang, 2008–2013 Changkat Jering, 2013-2018 Sungai Rapat, since 2018	PR (PAS)	17 March 2008	6 February 2009	2008 (12th)
11			Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir (b. 1962) MLA for Pangkor, since 2004	BN (UMNO)	12 May 2009	12 May 2018	– (12th) 2013 (13th)
12			Ahmad Faizal Azumu (b. 1970) MLA for Chenderiang, since 2018	PH (BERSATU)	12 May 2018	10 March 2020	2018 (14th)
13				PN (BERSATU)	13 March 2020	5 December 2020	– (14th)
Vacant					5 December 2020	10 December 2020	– (14th)
14			Saarani Mohammad (b. 1961) MLA for Lenggong, 1999-2004 MLA for Kota Tampan, since 2004	BN (UMNO)	10 December 2020	Incumbent	– (14th)

• 2009 Perak constitutional crisis
• Dato' Seri Ir Hj. Mohammad Nizar Bin Jamaluddin v. Dato' Dr. Zambry Bin Abd. Kadir

• Portal YAB Menteri Besar Perak (Official site) (in Malay)