The Government of Perak, officially the State Government of Perak, refers to the government authority of the Malaysian state of Perak. The state government adheres to and is created by both the Federal Constitution of Malaysia, the supreme law of Malaysia, and the Laws of the Constitution of Perak, the supreme law in Perak. The government of Perak is based in Ipoh, the state's capital city.
The state government consists of only two branches – executive and legislative. The Perak State Executive Council forms the executive branch, whilst the Perak State Legislative Assembly is the legislature of the state government. Perak's head of government is the Menteri Besar. The state government does not have a judiciary branch, as Malaysia's judicial system is a federalised system operating uniformly throughout the country.[2][3]
The Menteri Besar is the head of government in Perak. He is officially appointed by the Sultan, Perak's head of state, on the basis of the latter's judgement that the former commands the confidence of the majority of the State Assemblymen in the Perak State Legislative Assembly.[4] The Menteri Besar and his Executive Council shall be collectively responsible to Legislative Assembly. The Office of the Menteri Besar is situated inside Perak Darul Ridzuan Building in Ipoh.
The Perak Darul Ridzuan Building houses the Office of the Menteri Besar of Perak, as well as the state legislative assembly and other state government offices.
The Menteri Besar of Perak is Saarani Mohammad of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition that formed a coalition government with Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition in the state assembly. Saarani assumed office on 10 December 2020, having been elected as a Member of the State Legislative Assembly since the 1999 Perak state election.[5]
The Perak State Executive Council forms the executive branch of the Perak state government and is analogous in function to the Malaysian federal Cabinet. The Executive Council is led by the Menteri Besar and made up of between four and 10 other State Assemblymen from the Perak State Legislative Assembly.[4] Aside from these, three other ex officio members of the Executive Council are the State Secretary, the State Legal Adviser and the State Financial Officer.
1 Former PN member became independent on 13 February 2026.
The Perak State Legislative Assembly is the legislative branch of the Perak state government. The unicameral legislature consists of 59 seats that represent the 59 state constituencies within Perak, with each constituency being represented by an elected State Assemblyman. The Legislative Assembly convenes at the Perak Darul Ridzuan Building in Ipoh.
The legislature has a maximum mandate of five years by law and follows a multi-party system; the ruling party (or coalition) is elected through a first-past-the-post system.[4] The Sultan may dissolve the legislature at any time and usually does so upon the advice of the Menteri Besar.
A Speaker is elected by the Legislative Assembly to preside over the proceedings and debates of the legislature. The Speaker may or may not be an elected State Assemblyman; in the case of the latter, the elected Speaker shall become a member of the Legislative Assembly additional to the elected State Assemblymen already in the legislature.[4]
↑Jeong Chun Hai @ Ibrahim, & Nor Fadzlina Nawi. (2012). Principles of Public Administration: Malaysian Perspectives. Kuala Lumpur: Pearson Publishers. ISBN978-967-349-233-6
