IPOH (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has been appointed Perak Menteri Besar again after tendering his resignation earlier in the week as head of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) state government that had collapsed.

The Comptroller of the Royal Household, Datuk Pengelola Bijaya Diraja Kol (R) Abd Rahim Mohamad Nor, said Datuk Seri Faizal received the most support from state assemblymen.

The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Istana Iskandariah in Kuala Kangsar at 3.30pm on Friday (March 13).

On Tuesday, Mr Faizal tendered his resignation as Menteri Besar after Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) pulled out of the PH coalition, reflecting the changes at the federal government level.

Prior to his re-appointment, Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) Perak commissioner Razman Zakaria and state Umno chairman Datuk Saarani Mohamad were vying to be the state's menteri besar.

Perak's new Perikatan Nasional (PN) alliance consists of 25 Umno assemblymen, three from PAS and four from Bersatu. PN is led at the federal level by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

PH was also hit by three defections.

Two DAP lawmakers Paul Yong Choo Kiong and A. Sivasubramaniam, and Hasnul Zulkarnain Abd Munaim from Parti Amanah Negara, quit PH to become PN-friendly independents.

Perak PH now holds 24 seats in the 59-seat state assembly - comprising 16 state lawmakers from the DAP, five from Amanah and three from PKR.

Apart from Perak, two other PH states had also fallen to the PN alliance - Johor and Melaka.