Ewon Benedick (born 1 August 1983) is a

Malaysian Malaysian may refer to: * Something from or related to Malaysia, a country in Southeast Asia * Malaysian Malay, a dialect of Malay language spoken mainly in Malaysia * Malaysian people, people who are identified with the country of Malaysia regar ...

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 Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Madius Tangau (born 13 March 1958) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tuaran from November 1999 to March 2008 and again since May 2013. He served as the Deputy Chief Minist ...

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 The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2022. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2022 United Nations Security Council election * 2022 national electoral calendar * 2022 local ...

was to be held on 19 November 2022, the convention was delayed to 15 January 2023.

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 General elections were held in Malaysia on Sunday, 5 May 2013 to elect the members of the 13th Parliament. Voting took place in all 222 parliamentary constituencies, each electing one MP to the Dewan Rakyat, the dominant house of Parliament. ...

. As a result of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation decision to quit Barisan Nasional in the aftermath of

2018 Malaysian general election The 2018 Malaysian General Election, formally known as the 14th Malaysian General Election (), was held on Wednesday, 9 May 2018, for members of the 14th Parliament of Malaysia. At stake were all 222 seats in the Dewan Rakyat (the legislature' ...

. Ewon was appointed as State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah. Following the collapse of the

Parti Warisan Sabah The Heritage Party ( ms, Parti Warisan or Warisan) is a multi-racial political party in Malaysia which was rebranded and renamed from the Sabah Heritage Party ( ms, Parti Warisan Sabah), a Sabah-based party led by Shafie Apdal formed earlier on ...

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 The 2022 Malaysian general election, formally the 15th Malaysian general election (GE15; Malay: ''Pilihan raya umum ke-15''), was held on Saturday, 19 November 2022 to elect the 222 members of the Dewan Rakyat in the 15th Parliament of Malaysia ...

, Ewon went up against 2-term incumbent

Darell Leiking Datuk Darell Leiking, also known as Ignatius Dorell Leiking (born 23 August 1971) is a Malaysian politician who served as the Minister of International Trade and Industry in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) administration under former Prime Minister M ...

. 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 Anwar bin Ibrahim ( ms, انور بن ابراهيم, label= Jawi, script=arab, italic=unset, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12 ...

, 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

Honours

* : **

Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) - Datuk (2018)

References

{{Malaysia 15th FedRep People from Kota Belud District Members of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly Kadazan-Dusun people United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation politicians Living people 1983 births