KOTA KINABALU: Former chief minister Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee has come under fire for wanting only Sabah-based parties to contest in the next state elections.
The Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president has been criticised for his comments by all sides of the political divide, including Perikatan Nasional, of which SAPP is part of at the federal level.
Sabah Perikatan chairman Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee said Yong must be responsible to explain to the coalition (Perikatan) his stand on the matter.
Kiandee, who is also Sabah Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chief, said Yong was also making the statement under SAPP’s capacity as a member of Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) at the state without taking into consideration their position at the national level.
“Sabah Perikatan also stresses that no party can stop other political parties from taking part in the democratic process in Sabah.
“As a coalition that received the most support in the state elections (in the peninsula) on Aug 12, it is Perikatan’s intention to strengthen its position in other states including in Sabah,” he said, in a statement on Facebook on Tuesday (Aug 15).
Yong, who is also GRS deputy chairman, was reported to have said that peninsula-based parties should sit out from contesting in the state elections due in 2025.
Speaking after a SAPP function here on Sunday (Aug 13), the nominated assemblyman said as it was a state election, only local-based parties should contest the 73 state seats.
He said he would propose to the GRS leadership that friendly parties including Pakatan Harapan, Barisan Nasional and Perikatan stay out of the race, adding this was to avoid any overlapping candidates.
SAPP is one of the seven component parties of GRS which helms the state government that also includes Sabah Pakatan parties.
It is also part of the Perikatan coalition at the federal level, with Yong being the Opposition coalition deputy chairman.
Sabah Umno election director Jeffery Nor Mohamed also took a shot at Yong, saying the latter does not have the “moral standing” to tell any party not to contest in the upcoming Sabah state election as he had not made his political position clear.
Firstly, Jeffery said Yong was part of GRS that supports the federal unity government.
“But at the same time, SAPP is also clearly part of Perikatan,” he said, in a statement.
“Did he forget that he himself attended the six state election meetings held by Perikatan on July 17 and he is also Perikatan deputy chairman?
“Before advising any party, he should reflect first and state whether he supports the unity government or Perikatan,” he added.
Jeffery also pointed out that Yong seemed to have forgotten that the Sabah government was formed out of an agreement between Bersatu and Sabah Barisan.
He said the latter was appointed a nominated assemblyman despite SAPP not winning any seat in the Sept 26, 2020, state election.
Towards this end, he said it was time for Yong to state SAPP's true stance.
“Don't be two-faced. You can't be a supporter of the unity government but at the same time hold the position of deputy chairman of Perikatan (which is the Opposition at the federal and state level),” he said.
On Monday (Aug 15), Sabah DAP Youth secretary Chan Loong Wei had urged GRS to state if it agreed with the stand by Yong.
Chan said if GRS disagreed, then disciplinary action must be taken against Yong for disrupting the harmony of the unity government.
Following that, Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) information chief Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan contended the remarks by Yong were only the latter’s personal view.
Nizam said that while the party respected Yong's view, it did not represent the collective view of the GRS coalition.
Gagasan Rakyat is led by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and is also the anchor party of GRS.
