Pandikar Amin bin Mulia (
Jawi: ڤنديكر أمين بن مليا; born 17 September 1955) is a
Malaysian politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
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 from April 2008 to April 2018,
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department.
List of Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
The following individuals have been appo ...
from December 1999 to November 2002,
State Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Sabah from May 1996 to March 1999,
State Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports of Sabah from March 1994 to May 1996, Member of the
Sabah State Legislative Assembly
The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah Stat ...
(MLA) for
Tempasuk from March 2004 to March 2008 and
Usukan from 1982 to 1985 and President of the
People's Justice Front (AKAR) from 1989 to 1995.
Early background
Pandikar Amin was born in a poor family in a remote village in
Kota Belud
Kota Belud ( ms, Pekan Kota Belud; ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kú-tá Mâu-lu̍t) is the capital of the Kota Belud District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 8,392 in 2010. It is roughly at the mid ...
,
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory of ...
. Prior to going to
England for tertiary education, he received education at
Sabah College in
Kota Kinabalu
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wis ...
. He was a graduate of
Wolverhampton Polytechnic
The University of Wolverhampton is a public university located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mech ...
and
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
.
Political career
USNO
Pandikar Amin entered politics in 1982 as a member of
United Sabah National Organisation
The United Sabah National Organisation ( ms, Pertubuhan Kebangsaan Sabah Bersatu; abbrev: USNO) was a political party in North Borneo and later Sabah, Malaysia. The widely known Sabah's Muslim indigenous especially Suluk-Bajau ethnic based p ...
(USNO) and later picked as the
Barisan Nasional
The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 se ...
(BN) parliamentary candidate for
Kota Belud
Kota Belud ( ms, Pekan Kota Belud; ; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Kú-tá Mâu-lu̍t) is the capital of the Kota Belud District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 8,392 in 2010. It is roughly at the mid ...
in
1982 general elections but lost to the Independent candidate. At the age of 27, however he became
Sabah state assemblyman for
Usukan from 1982 to 1985. He was appointed a non-MLA Speaker of
Sabah State Legislative Assembly
The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogun Sabah'') is a part of the legislature of Sabah, Malaysia, the other being the governor of Sabah. The assembly meets at the Sabah Stat ...
from 1986 to 1988.
AKAR
Pandikar with some other dissident
United Sabah Party
The United Sabah Party ( ms, Parti Bersatu Sabah, abbreviated PBS) is a political party of Sabah. The PBS was founded by Joseph Pairin Kitingan in 1985 and it is Sabah's oldest local party. In August 2020, PBS confirmed that they would be usin ...
(PBS) of
Dusun
Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. Dusun has been recognised as among the indigenous community of ...
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 as a
Senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the ...
and
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department is a member of Cabinet of Malaysia who administers a portfolio through the Prime Minister's Department.
List of Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department
The following individuals have been appo ...
until 2002. He was president of AKAR, that had joined to be one of the BN component parties in
Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory of ...
, at that time. The party was dissolved to enable its members to join
United Malays National Organisation
The United Malays National Organisation ( Malay: ; Jawi: ; abbreviated UMNO () or less commonly PEKEMBAR), is a nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), st ...
(UMNO) in 2001.
[
]
UMNO and Speakership in the Dewan Rakyat
Pandikar, as a member of UMNO was elected again Sabah assemblyman from 2004 to 2008; for Tempasuk. 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 who was active in the United Malays National Organisation. He served as the 8th Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Perak from 1982 to 1999 and was the Speaker of the Dewan Ra ...
.
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: وان جنيدي بن توانكو جعفر; born 1 February 1945) is a Malaysian politician who served as Minister in the Prime Minister's Department for Parliament and Law from 2021 to 2022. He was the ...
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 Sabah
Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory of ...
or Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, K ...
. In mid-May, after Parliament convened, Pandikar resigned as Kota Marudu UMNO division chief, citing the need to be a neutral presiding officer. 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 had joined USNO Baru and appointed its Chairman Strategic Advisory Council in July 2019. He then contested Pintasan state seat in September 2020 Sabah state election
The 2020 Sabah state election took place on 26 September 2020 to elect all 73 elected members of the 16th Sabah State Legislative Assembly. The previous Assembly was dissolved on 30 July 2020.
The state snap election was called prematurely a ...
under USNO Baru but together with all the party candidates were defeated. Pandikar was officially elected party president in February 2021.
Election results
Honours
* :
** Companion of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia
The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign.
The order was instituted o ...
(JSM) (1993)
** Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia
The Most Esteemed Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia ( ms, Darjah Yang Mulia Setia Mahkota Malaysia) is a Malaysian federal award presented for meritorious service to the country and awarded by the sovereign.
The order was instituted o ...
(PSM) - Tan Sri (2002)
* :
** 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
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
(DUPN) - Dato' Seri Utama (2013)
* :
** Commander of the Order of Kinabalu
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia.
Background
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...
(PGDK) - Datuk (1994)
** Grand Commander of the Order of Kinabalu
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu (Malay: ''Darjah Yang Amat Mulia Kinabalu'') is the only order conferred by the Governor of Sabah, Malaysia.
Background
The Illustrious Order of Kinabalu is established by virtue of Section 3(a) of State Honou ...
(SPDK) - Datuk Seri Panglima (2010)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulia, Pandikar Amin
1953 births
Living people
People from Sabah
Bajau people
Malaysian Muslims
20th-century Malaysian lawyers
United Sabah National Organisation politicians
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
21st-century Malaysian politicians