Pandikar Amin bin Mulia ( Jawi: ڤنديكر أمين بن مليا; born 17 September 1955) is a Malaysian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who has served as President of United Sabah National Organisation (New) (USNO Baru) since February 2021. He served as 8th

Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat The Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat (, Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the highest-ranking presiding officer of the Dewan Rakyat, the lower house of the Parliament of Malaysia, Parliament of Malaysia. They are responsible for convening sessions of the Dewan ...

from April 2008 to April 2018,

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Malay language, Malay: ''Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri''; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department (Malaysia) ...

from December 1999 to November 2002, State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Sabah from May 1997 to March 1999, State Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Sabah from March 1994 to May 1997, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Tempasuk from 1994 to 1999 and again from March 2004 to March 2008, Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Usukan from 1982 to 1985 as well as a former cum founding President of the People's Justice Front (AKAR) from 1989 to 1995. He is also the first Sabahan, East Malaysian and also ethnic Bajau Iranun to hold the office of the

Early background

Pandikar Amin was born in a remote village in Kota Belud,

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

to ethnic Bajau Iranun farmer parents who were of poor backgrounds and started primary schooling in his hometown. Prior to going to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

for tertiary education, he received education at Sabah College in

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

, a prestigious elite secondary school of the state. He was a graduate of

Wolverhampton Polytechnic The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...

and

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

Political career

USNO

Pandikar Amin entered politics in 1982 as a member of

United Sabah National Organisation The United Sabah National Organisation (; abbreviation, abbrev: USNO) was a political party in Crown Colony of North Borneo, North Borneo and later Sabah, Malaysia. The widely known Sabah's Muslim Orang Asal, indigenous especially Tausūg peopl ...

(USNO) and later picked as the

Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...

(BN) parliamentary candidate for Kota Belud in 1982 general elections but lost to an Independent candidate. At the age of 27, however he became Sabah state assemblyman for Usukan, holding for one term from 1982 to 1985. He was then later appointed the first non-MLA Speaker of Sabah State Legislative Assembly from 1986 to 1988.

AKAR

Pandikar with another fellow dissident United Sabah Party (PBS) comprising a few Dusun and

Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

ethnic-based leaders namely Mark Koding and Kalakau Untol formed the People's Justice Front (AKAR) in 1989. In 1999, he was appointed a

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

and

until 2002. He was president of AKAR, a now-defunct Sabahan political party which joined as one of the

component parties from

, at that time. The party was then dissolved to enable its members to join the

United Malays National Organisation The United Malays National Organisation (Abbreviation, abbrev: UMNO; , PEKEMBAR) is a Conservatism, conservative, Nationalism, Malay nationalist political party in Malaysia. As the oldest national political party in the country (since its ince ...

(UMNO) in 2002 where Pandikar-faction choice to join, meanwhile half of the AKAR members join PGRS in 2013 where Ationg Tituh-faction established.

UMNO and Speakership in the Dewan Rakyat

Pandikar, as a member of UMNO was elected again Sabah assemblyman from 2004 to 2008; for the Tempasuk seat in Kota Belud. After the 2008 general elections, the BN coalition government announced that Pandikar, a non-MP would be the new Speaker, replacing

Ramli Ngah Talib Ramli bin Ngah Talib (; born 16 March 1941) is a Malaysian politician and lawyer who has served as the 9th Governor of Penang since 1 May 2025. He served as the 8th Menteri Besar of Perak from March 1982 until December 1999 and Speaker of th ...

. The 12th Parliament was the first to be presided over entirely by East Malaysians; Pandikar and his deputies,

Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar Wan Junaidi bin Tuanku Jaafar (Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , born 1 February 1946) is a Malaysian politician, lawyer and former senior police officer who is the eighth and current Yang di-Pertua Negeri of Sarawak. He previously served as the 19th Pre ...

and

Ronald Kiandee Ronald Kiandee (born 10 January 1961) is a Malaysian politician. A member of the Malaysian United Indigenous Party (BERSATU) and its Vice President since August 2020 and 2nd State Chairman of Sabah since December 2022, he has served as the Me ...

, hail from either

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

. In mid-May, after Parliament convened, Pandikar resigned as Kota Marudu UMNO divisional chief, citing the need to be a neutral, non-partisan presiding officer of the legislature. He denied his resignation was linked to possible party-switching amongst UMNO MPs from East Malaysia. Ahead of the 2018 general elections, Pandikar announced his intention to contest, thus enable his possible prospect to be a more active federal-elected politician after serving as a ''non-MP'' Speaker for two terms. Somehow he was not picked as candidate to contest the elections that saw the downfall of BN in both the federal and state governments. Despite his appointment to the UMNO's supreme council later on 14 July 2018; he decided to quit UMNO on 12 December 2018 along with other Sabah UMNO assemblymen to be independents.

USNO Baru

Pandikar then later joined a newly revived Sabahan political party known as the USNO Baru and was appointed as the chairman of the party's Strategic Advisory Council in July 2019. He then contested the Pintasan state seat during the September 2020 Sabah state election under USNO Baru but he together with all the party's candidates in other state seats they contested were defeated in cornered fights with candidates from rival parties and/or coalitions. Pandikar was officially elected party president in February 2021 and remains in the position as of 2023, proceeds to became the main reason of the local

political coalition A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

, '' GRS'' accepting USNO Baru as a component member.

Election results

Honours

* : **

Commander of the

Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia () is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign. The order was instituted on 15 April 1966 and gazetted on 30 June 1966 ...

(PSM) – Tan Sri (2002) **

Companion of the

(JSM) (1993) * : ** MY-FED Darjah Mahkota Wilayah - Grand Knight - SUMW

Grand Knight of the Order of the Territorial Crown (SUMW) – Datuk Seri Utama (2009) * : ** Knight Grand Commander of the Order of the Defender of State (DUPN) – Dato' Seri Utama (2013) * : ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - SPDK

Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (SPDK) – Datuk Seri Panglima (2010) ** MY-SAB Order of Kinabalu - PGDK

Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandikar Amin Mulia 1955 births Living people People from Kota Belud District Bajau people Malaysian Muslims 20th-century Malaysian lawyers United Sabah National Organisation politicians Former United Malays National Organisation politicians People's Justice Front politicians Members of the Dewan Negara Speakers of the Dewan Rakyat Government ministers of Malaysia Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Speakers of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Alumni of the University of Wolverhampton Members of Lincoln's Inn Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu Grand Commanders of the Order of Kinabalu Commanders of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Companions of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia Malaysian MPs 2008–2013 Malaysian MPs 2013–2018