He said “Malaya-based” Umno, which was founded in Peninsular Malaysia and has its headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, was keen to see Sabah-based parties divided to maintain its hold on the state.
“It is the hope of Sabahans that Sabah parties be united under one umbrella,” he said.
“The most effective strategy to defeat the Malaya tactic of divide-and-rule against Sabah parties is to unite under one Gabungan Sabah.”
He said PCS’s move had split the local opposition.
“That is PCS’s gift to Umno,” Yong said in a statement today.
He also said Umno was aware that other parties from the peninsula that had set up base in Sabah were incapable of defeating the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition.
He said this was shown by their defeat in the last general election in 2013.
“This is because Malaya-based parties are a mere mirror image of Umno-BN,” said Yong, who was Sabah chief minister from 1996 to 1998 when SAPP was a member of BN.
“But if Sabah parties form a combined force, then Umno can be defeated in Sabah because the most powerful weapon of Sabahans is the battle cry for Sabah rights and autonomy,” he said.
Yong added that Umno could also lose its majority in the Dewan Rakyat by sustaining defeats in parliamentary constituencies in the state.
“This is Umno’s greatest fear,” he said. “And therefore Umno will try its best to break up the unity of Sabah parties.”
PCS was a founder member of Gabungan with SAPP and Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR Sabah) in 2016.
Yong alleged that PCS pulled out from Gabungan because its president, Wilfred Bumburing, was “obsessed” with becoming chief minister.
“Unwilling to work hard and unable to accept other opposition parties into Gabungan Sabah, Datuk Wilfred took PCS into the wilderness. It will end up on the wrong side of history,” Yong claimed.
Two more local parties – Parti Harapan Rakyat Sabah and Parti Perpaduan Rakyat Sabah – have since joined Gabungan.
Yong’s statement comes on the heels of Bumburing yesterday accusing Gabungan of being a BN-friendly outfit.
“We pulled out from Gabungan Sabah because we did not want to work with parties that are friendly to Barisan Nasional,” he had said at the launch of PCS’s 13-point manifesto.
“What you see about Gabungan Sabah openly criticising BN is actually not true,” he added.
He said Yong and STAR Sabah president Jeffrey Kitingan were part of the My Sabah group of politicians, initiated by Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, who is from Umno, to discuss Sabah state rights last year.
Bumburing: Sabah opposition will avoid multi-cornered fights