From an educationist, to a Menteri Besar

IPOH: The riddle as to whom will fill the post of the 14th Menteri Besar of Perak after the post was vacated since last Saturday was finally answered when the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah consented to appointing Datuk Saarani Mohamad.

Saarani, 59, who is the Kota Tampan State Assemblyman (ADUN), is scheduled to be sworn in before Sultan Nazrin at Istana Iskandariah, Kuala Kangsar at 11 am today.

The Perak UMNO Liaison Committee chairman since 2018 had received the consent of Sultan Nazrin to be appointed as Menteri Besar after considering that Saarani could gain the trust of most of the State Assemblymen.

Saarani was picked to replace Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu who resigned along with his entire State Executive Council (Exco) line-up on Dec 5 after failing to get support through a motion of 'majority confidence in the menteri besar' last Friday.

Born on March 13, 1961 in Kampung Raban, Lenggong, Saarani began his career as a teacher in 1982 after graduating with a Diploma in Science and Education (Physics and Mathematics) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

The holder of a Bachelor Degree with Honours (Human Resource Management) from Open University Malaysia (OUM) joined UMNO in 1989 and became the Lenggong State Assemblyman from 1999 to 2004.

Due to his dedication and commitment as the people's representative, the father of eight children managed to make the Kota Tampan State Assembly a stronghold of UMNO since he first won it in 2004.

When Pakatan Harapan (PH) ruled Perak after the 14th General Election (GE14), Saarani was appointed as the Perak State Assembly opposition leader, but the 'status' was short-lived after PH collapsed and saw the National Alliance (PN) consisting of UMNO, Bersatu and PAS assemblymen taking over the government.

Saarani also served as a Perak State Government exco by holding several portfolios including the Chairman of the Rural Development and Plantation Committee; Chairman of Information and Human Capital Development and most recently Chairman for Rural Development, Entrepreneur Development, Co-operatives and Consumer Affairs.

Saarani's appointment filled the list of names as Menteri Besar of Perak along with 11 others, namely Datuk Seri Abdul Wahab Toh Muda Abdul Aziz (‪1948-1957‬); Tan Sri Mohamed Ghazali Jawi (‪1957-1960‬); Datuk Seri Shaari Shafie (‪1960-1964‬) and Datuk Seri Ahmad Said (‪1964-1970‬).

Datuk Seri Kamaruddin Mohd Isa (‪1970-1974‬); before Mohamed Ghazali was again appointed for four years from 1974 to 1977; Datuk Seri Wan Mohamed Wan Teh (‪1977-1983‬), Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib (‪1983-1999‬); Tan Sri Mohd Tajol Rosli Mohd Ghazali (‪1999-2008‬); Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (‪2008-2009‬) and Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir (‪2009-2018‬).

After GE14 in 2018, Ahmad Faizal who is the Perak PH chairman was appointed the 12th Menteri Besar of Perak before resigning on March 9, 2020 following a political alignment and then re-appointed as the 13th Menteri Besar by leading the PN government before resigning on Dec 5.

The Perak State Assembly has 59 state assemblymen with UMNO having the most seats at 25, followed by DAP (16), Amanah (5), Bersatu (5), PKR (3) and PAS (3), while Gerakan and Bebas each have one seat.

-- BERNAMA