Upko will demand more seats with Ewon heading Sabah PH, says analyst

 

Upko president Ewon Benedick was elected the Sabah PH chairman for the 2024-2026 term on Sunday, replacing PKR’s Christina Liew who had held the post since 2017. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Upko will likely leverage its president’s chairmanship of Sabah Pakatan Harapan (PH) to demand more seats in the upcoming state election, an analyst says.

Lee Kuok Tiung of Universiti Malaysia Sabah said it was unthinkable that Ewon Benedick, the entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister, would be satisfied with only one seat.

In the 2020 state election, the Kadamaian seat was won by Ewon in a six-cornered fight despite Upko having contested 12 seats, mainly in the Kadazan Dusun and Murut-majority areas.

It collaborated with Warisan Plus, which included Sabah PH. When Warisan Plus lost the election, Upko joined PH.

“They (Upko) are bound to demand a significant number of seats during negotiations as they will want to be more prominent in Sabah,” Lee told FMT when asked to comment on Ewon’s election as the Sabah PH chief after defeating Kota Kinabalu PKR chief Christina Liew by three votes.

Lee’s colleague, Romzi Ationg, said Upko had little sway in Sabah and was struggling to shore up support as it only had one seat.

“Ewon’s ministerial post will not necessarily translate to increased support for the party as it is still trying to establish itself,” he said.

In February, Ewon dismissed the notion that some state assembly seats in Sabah were exclusively for a particular party.

He also previously declared that the party was aiming to contest more seats, only to be criticised by Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah leader John Ambrose who said Upko should not demand seats it had no chance of winning.

The next state election must be held by October 2025.

In the 2018 state polls, Upko won five seats under Barisan Nasional (BN): Kadamaian, Kuala Penyu, Paginatan, Nabawan and Kuamut. It left BN shortly after that. - FMT