Ewon Benedick

Ewon Benedick (born 1 August 1983) is a Malaysian politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Penampang since 2022 and Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Kadamaian since 2018. A president of the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO) since 2023, Ewon has also been the Chairman of Pakatan Harapan in Sabah since 2024 until 2025.

Yang Berhormat Datuk Ewon Benedick PGDK ASDK BK JP MP MLA
Ewon Benedick in 2023
Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development
In office 3 December 2022 – 8 November 2025
Monarchs	Abdullah (2022–2024) Ibrahim Iskandar (2024-2025)
Prime Minister	Anwar Ibrahim
Deputy	Saraswathy Kandasami (2022–2023) Ramanan Ramakrishnan (2023–2025)
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
Incumbent
Assumed office 15 January 2023
Deputy	Donald Peter Mojuntin
Preceded by	Wilfred Madius Tangau
Member of the Malaysian Parliament for Penampang
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 November 2022
Preceded by	Darell Leiking (WARISAN)
Majority	14,410 (2022)
Member of the Sabah State Legislative Assembly for Kadamaian
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 May 2018
Preceded by	Ukoh Malajad (Independent)
Majority	3,294 (2018) 3,459 (2020)
2nd State Chairman of the Pakatan Harapan of Sabah
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 December 2024
National Chairman	Anwar Ibrahim
Preceded by	Christina Liew Chin Jin
Personal details
Born	Ewon Benedick (1983-08-01) 1 August 1983 (age 42) Kampung Penampang Proper, Donggongon, Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia
Citizenship	Malaysian
Political party	United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation (UPKO)
Other political affiliations	Barisan Nasional (BN) (until 2018) Pakatan Harapan (PH) (2021–2025)
Spouse	Connie Parantis
Children	2
Education	SM St. Michael, Penampang Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka
Occupation	Politician

He served as Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development under prime minister Anwar Ibrahim from 2022 until his resignation in 2025, and was the State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah under chief minister Shafie Apdal from 2018 to 2020.

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 had been won by Parti Keadilan Rakyat in the 2013 general election.

Following the United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation's (UPKO) decision to quit Barisan Nasional in the aftermath of 2018 general election and align with Parti Warisan Sabah and Pakatan Harapan (PH), Ewon was appointed the State Minister of Rural Development of Sabah. Following the collapse of the Warisan-led government in 2020, a snap election was held, where he defended his seat despite a poor showing by UPKO; he became the party's sole state legislative assemblyman.

In the 2022 general election, Ewon contested against incumbent Darell Leiking in the federal parliamentary seat of Penampang and overturned a 23,473 majority. He was subsequently appointed Minister of Entrepreneur and Co-operatives Development in the Anwar Ibrahim cabinet.

On 14 January 2023, Ewon took over the presidency of United Progressive Kinabalu Organisation.

On 8 November 2025, Ewon announced his resignation from the cabinet over what he described as the Attorney General's Chambers "disregard' for Sabah's entitlement to 40% of federal revenue collected from the state under the constitution. This followed a court ruling which had affirmed that the federal government had been acting unlawfully for the previous 50 years by failing to pay the state the necessary amount.^[1]

Political analysts have described Ewon's resignation as a calculated move ahead of the 2025 Sabah state election meant to reaffirm UPKO's image as a party serving Sabahan interests.^[2]

Election results

Sabah State Legislative Assembly^[3][4][5]

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2018	N07 Kadamaian		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		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%
2025			Ewon Benedick (UPKO)				Norman Simon (WARISAN)
							Mudezam Muyau @ James Muyou (PBS)
							Josely Taising (KDM)
							Daibi Mandadi (IMPIAN)
							Priskilia Akwila Senim (ANAK NEGERI)
							Davylandon Rub (STAR)
							Judin Tingih (PBM)

Parliament of Malaysia

Year	Constituency	Candidate		Votes	Pct	Opponent(s)		Votes	Pct	Ballots cast	Majority	Turnout
2022	P174 Penampang		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

Honours of Malaysia

• Malaysia
  • Recipient of the 17th Yang di-Pertuan Agong Installation Medal
• Sabah
  • Commander of the Order of Kinabalu (PGDK) – Datuk (2018)^[6]
  • Companion of the Order of Kinabalu (ASDK) (2016)^[7]
  • Star of the Order of Kinabalu (BK) (2010)^[8]
  • Justice of the Peace (JP) (2024)^[9]