Ewon Benedick
Ewon Benedick (born 1 August 1983) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative in the Anwar Ibrahim Cabinet since December 2022, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Penampang since November 2022 and Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Kadamaian since May 2018. He served as State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah in the Sabah Heritage Party (WARISAN) administration under former Chief Minister Shafie Apdal from May 2018 to the collapse of the WARISAN state administration in September 2020. He is a member of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO), a component party of the PH coalition. He has served as the 3rd President of UPKO since January 2023. He was also Vice President of UPKO before his promotion to the party presidency in January 2023. He is one of the two UPKO MPs and sole UPKO MLA. He was set to officially take over Wilfred Madius Tangau as the 3rd UPKO president after the UPKO party election in the party triennial delegates convention on 16 October 2022. However on 10 October 2022, the 14th Parliament was dissolved and the 2022 general election was to be held on 19 November 2022, the convention was delayed to 15 January 2023.[1][2][3]
Ewon Benedick | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative | |
| Assumed office 3 December 2022 | |
| Monarch | Abdullah |
| Prime Minister | Anwar Ibrahim |
| Deputy | Saraswathy Kandasami |
| Preceded by | Noh Omar |
| Constituency | Penampang |
| State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah | |
| In office 16 May 2018 – 29 September 2020 | |
| Governor | Juhar Mahiruddin |
| Chief Minister | Shafie Apdal |
| Assistant | Rasinin Kautis Dumi Pg. Masdal |
| Preceded by | Ellron Alfred Angin |
| Succeeded by | Jahid Jahim |
| Constituency | Kadamaian |
| 3rd President of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation | |
| Assumed office 15 January 2023 | |
| Deputy | Donald Peter Mojuntin |
| Preceded by | Wilfred Madius Tangau |
| Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Penampang | |
| Assumed office 19 November 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Darell Leiking (WARISAN) |
| Majority | 14,410 (2022) |
| Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Kadamaian | |
| Assumed office 9 May 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Ukoh Malajad (Independent) |
| Majority | 3,459 (2020) 3,294 (2018) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ewon Benedick 1 August 1983 Kampung Penampang Proper, Donggongon, Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia |
| Citizenship | Malaysian |
| Political party | United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) |
| Other political affiliations | Barisan Nasional (BN) (−2018) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (since 2021) |
| Spouse | Connie Parantis |
| Education | SM St. Michael, Penampang Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka |
| Occupation | Politician |
Political career
Ewon Benedick made his electoral debut in the 2018 Sabah state election and contested in the state constituency of Kadamaian and managed to regain the seat which was won by Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the 2013 Malaysian general election. As a result of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation decision to quit Barisan Nasional in the aftermath of 2018 Malaysian general election. Ewon was appointed as State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah. Following the collapse of the Parti Warisan Sabah government in Sabah in 2020, a snap election was held, where he defended his seat despite United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation's poor showing in the state election with him being the only state assemblyman from United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation.
In the 2022 Malaysian general election, Ewon went up against 2-term incumbent Darell Leiking. who was also a former federal minister in the parliamentary seat of Penampang and managed to win the seat with a 14,000 plus majority. Soon after the formation of the unity government led by Anwar Ibrahim, Ewon Benedick was subsequently appointed as the new Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative. He is presently the youngest member of Anwar Ibrahim Cabinet.
On January 14 2023, Ewon took over the presidency of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation.
In September 2023 after launching the a state native customary laws literacy seminar, Ewon said that he along with his party comrades in United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation and Pakatan Harapan will continue the fight to elevate Sabah’s native court to be on equal footing with the civil and syariah courts, He said the state has all these three court systems but the native court, which presides over matters involving customary rights and practices of the state’s Kadazandusun Murut Rungus (KDMR) community, was considered as the lesser compared to the other two.
Election results
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | N07 Kadamaian, P169 Kota Belud | Ewon Benedick (UPKO) | 6,861 | 47.80% | Lukia Indan (PKR) | 3,567 | 24.86% | 14,712 | 3,294 | 72.10% | ||
| Rubbin Guribah (STAR) | 3,034 | 21.14% | ||||||||||
| Mail Balinu (PCS) | 764 | 5.32% | ||||||||||
| Satail Majungkat (PAS) | 129 | 0.88% | ||||||||||
| 2020 | N11 Kadamaian, P169 Kota Belud | Ewon Benedick (UPKO) | 6,823 | 51.07% | Demis Rumanti (PBS) | 3,364 | 25.18% | 13,360 | 3,459 | 74.35% | ||
| Duanis Mogirong (PBRS) | 2,050 | 15.34% | ||||||||||
| Joshua Betting Giling (PCS) | 799 | 5.98% | ||||||||||
| Ernest Leduning Lengik (LDP) | 223 | 1.67% | ||||||||||
| Mohd Farhan Raiting (IND) | 101 | 0.76% | ||||||||||
| Year | Constituency | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | P174 Penampang, Sabah | Ewon Benedick (UPKO) | 29,066 | 57.30% | Darell Leiking (WARISAN) | 14,656 | 28.89% | 50,730 | 14,410 | 65.70% | ||
| Kenny Chua Teck Ho (STAR) | 6,719 | 13.24% | ||||||||||
| Richard Jimmy (IND) | 289 | 0.57% | ||||||||||
Honours
Sabah :
Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) - Datuk (2018)[7]
References
- "Ewon to take over as Upko chief during party congress next year". The Borneo Post. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- Sadho Ram (12 May 2018). "Sabah Musical Chairs To End With Shafie Swearing In As Chief Minister Tonight". Says.com. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- Alyaa Azhar (11 May 2018). "Six switch sides, Warisan has majority with 35 seats". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- "Sabah [Parliament Results]". The Star. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
- "14th General Election Malaysia (GE14 / PRU14) – Results Overview". election.thestar.com.my.
- "N02 Tanjong Kapor". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- "Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak head list of 1,158 Sabah award recipients". Bernama. Borneo Post. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
