KOTA KINABALU: Incoming Upko president Datuk Ewon Benedick has helped return the party’s once stronghold of Penampang, which has been held by the Opposition for the last nine years.
Upko had held the semi-urban seat with a strong Kadazandusun voter majority for three terms between 1999 and 2013 when it was a component of Barisan Nasional before it fell to PKR in the 2013 general election.
Datuk Darell Leiking, then with PKR, ousted former Upko president Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who was a sitting federal minister at the time before retaining the constituency on a bigger vote majority under a Parti Warisan ticket in the 2018 general polls.
But Leiking’s two-term incumbency on the seat came to an end on Saturday (Nov 19).
Benedick, who stood under a Pakatan Harapan ticket, defeated the deputy Warisan president in a convincing manner in the just-concluded general polls with a 14,410-vote majority.
He polled 29,066 votes against Leiking’s 14,656, while Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) candidate Kenny Chua obtained 6,719 votes and independent candidate Richard Jimmy lost his deposit after getting only 289 votes.
Benedick is the assemblyman for Kadamaian, which is within the Kota Belud parliamentary area, but Pakatan brought him back to Penampang where his late father hailed from.
His campaign got off to a slow start with less than 100 people turning up for his ceramah but picked up later on, with Dompok speaking for him as well as heavy ground work being done by his team that included Sabah DAP’s Kapayan assemblyman Jannie Lasimbang.
After his victory, Benedick said he was always the underdog in the race as Leiking was a two-term MP there while Chua was also an experienced politician but silently, he remained confident of his chances.
“Penampang is very close to us (Upko); this was our stronghold before. And I’m happy to deliver not only for Pakatan but also for Upko.
“But most importantly, we participated in this election under Pakatan,” he told reporters.
He added that he also got a call from Leiking who congratulated him and Pakatan for the win.
“I also told him that he was still the assemblyman for Moyog (the other state seat in Penampang besides Kapayan) and conveyed my hope to build Penampang together with him.
“I take this mandate as a big responsibility. I must work hard to deliver what the Penampang people want,” Benedick said.
