Lim, who is finance minister, and Saifuddin who is domestic trade and consumer affairs minister, will take their oaths as Air Putih and Pantai Jerejak assembly members before the speaker with 38 other members at 9.30am.

Speaking to FMT, Lim said it was an honour to be part of the state assembly.

“I feel honoured to represent and serve the people of Air Putih.

“They gave me the opportunity to be their representative and also their chief minister, and now, finance minister. I hope to improve the economic well-being of Penang and Malaysia,” the Bagan MP said.

When asked how he felt about the possibility of being placed in a backbencher’s seat after 10 years of being seated on the front benches as Penang chief minister, Lim said: “As long as I can sit anywhere in the Dewan, it is a privilege.”

Saifuddin, who is also Kulim-Bandar Baharu MP, was not available for comment.

Speaker Law Choo Kiang has been retained for a second term, despite no longer being a member of the assembly. The former executive councillor did not defend his Bukit Tambun seat for a third term in the recent polls.

In the May 9 general election, Pakatan Harapan (PH) won 37 seats. DAP won 19, PKR 14, Amanah two and PKR two. The PH coalition effectively has supermajority status in the assembly.

The remaining three seats were won by Barisan Nasional/Umno (two) and PAS (one).

There are 26 new faces in the assembly, including two PKR reps who were assemblymen in the 2008 session – Ong Khan Lee (PKR-Kebun Bunga) and Abdul Halim Hussain (PKR-Batu Maung).

Former Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari (DAP-Tanjong Bungah) and former Alor Setar MP Gooi Hsiao-Leong (PKR-Bukit Tengah) are also part of the new assembly line-up.

The last state assembly had 29 members from PH, 10 from BN and one from PAS.

Governor Abdul Rahman Abbas will officially open the 14th session of the assembly tomorrow, with debates to run from Aug 6 to 10.