KUALA KANGSAR, May 12 — Perak Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Ahmad Faizal Azumu has been sworn in as the state’s 12th mentri besar.

Faizal, who is also state Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia(PPBM) chairman, was sworn-in in the presence of the Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah at Istana Iskandariah here today.

Also present at the ceremony was the Raja Permaisuri of Perak, Tuanku Zara Salim, former mentri besar Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir and Pakatan Harapan representatives.

Faizal leads the four-party pact that managed to garner the support of 31 elected state assemblymen, thus forming a simple majority.

Faizal contributed to PPBM’s sole state seat in Perak during GE14, winning Chenderiang by a razor-thin margin of 39 votes.

Vastly more impressive was his giant-killing victory in the parliamentary seat of Tambun, where he beat Umno stalwart Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah by 5,320 votes.

PH only managed to form the state government in Perak this morning, after convincing Sultan Nazrin Shah that they enjoyed the majority of support among the 59 elected representatives.

This came after two BN representatives defected, pledging their support for the PH government.

The two seats, when added to PH’s original total of 29, gave the coalition a total of 31 — enough to form a majority in the state.

BN won 25 seats in GE14, while PAS won three.

Before the switch, many expected BN to form a state government by forming a coalition with PAS, but this failed to materialise.