Penang will proceed with tabling an amendment to the State Constitution to impose a two-term limit for the chief minister's post, said new Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow.

This was one of Pakatan Harapan's 68 manifesto promises for the state.

Chow, who succeeded Lim Guan Eng, said the state's legal adviser would now study the matter.

"We promised to implement this if we obtained a two-thirds majority in the state Legislative Assembly.

"Since we obtained a two-thirds majority on May 9, we will do it. The state legal adviser has been asked to look into the matter, to identify which clause should be amended or added to the State Constitution.

"We will share the details of the proposed draft when the state legal adviser has done it, and the state executive councillors will discuss the recommendations,” Chow told a press conference.

He hopes that members of the public and NGOs would also share their views on this matter.

“We can then deliberate on it to see if we can add their views into our proposed draft," he added.

Chow said the proposed amendments to the constitution on the two-term limit would most probably be tabled in November during the budget session.

He said it would be too soon to table it during the first sitting scheduled for August, as it would have to be reviewed by the state assembly's constitution committee, in line with the state assembly's Standing Order.

The move to limit the chief minister's post to two-terms was proposed by former state opposition leader and Umno Teluk Ayer Tawar assemblywoman Jahara Hamid, and former DAP Tanjung Bungah assemblyperson Teh Yee Cheu during Lim's tenure.

Lim (above), who is also DAP secretary-general, is now in Putrajaya following his appointment as finance minister.

Manifesto promises

Meanwhile, Chow said the current 10 Penang state executive councillors would have to now scrutinise the promises stated in Harapan's election manifesto and fulfil them.

"I have asked all the state excos to implement the 68 promises in the manifesto and tell us how they are going to fulfil the promises.

“Some would take five years or longer but we will try our best to do it within this term," said Chow, who is also Tanjung MP.

He said the state excos would also have to streamline their portfolios with their counterparts at the federal level.

"I am sure the state excos are eager to meet with their federal counterparts. As for me, I would like to meet with the transport minister (Anthony Loke) on our Penang Transport Master Plan.

"We need to streamline tasks and issues so that there is no overlapping. If the federal government would like to adopt any policies from Penang, we would be very happy to contribute," he added.

Asked if more state executive councillors would be added to his team, Chow replied: "The state constitution only allows for 10 members to be appointed."

On the new state exco's first meeting today, Chow said the performance of each member of his team would be scrutinised through a monitoring system similar to the 'key performance indicator' method.

He also announced the appointment of Komtar assemblyperson Teh Lai Heng as his political secretary.

Asked if he would be having a dialogue with NGOs like Penang Forum, Chow said he has been meeting with various stakeholders since his appointment as CM.