Sarawakians have not been given the opportunity to express their views on Umno's entry into the state's political arena, complained Independent candidate Abang Abu Bakar Mustapha.

Abang Abu Bakar claimed that his supporters who had planned a gathering involving 60,000 people at Padang Merdeka in Kuching last February were not issued a permit by the police and the state secretariat office.

"Even flags and banners hung by Sarawak Umno supporters were forced to be brought down by certain quarters," the former deputy leader of the incumbent Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu lamented.

"Some (flags) were even reportedly set on fire," he added in a question-and-answer leaflet distributed to voters in the Sadong Jaya and Muara Tuang constituencies.

Abang Abu Bakar has kept a very low profile during the campaign trail for this Thursday's state polls, thwarting journalists who have been seeking an interview with him.

A check at one of Abang Abu Bakar's operation centres in Muara Tuang confirmed that the leaflets were indeed distributed by his group which called itself 'Kumpulan Abu'.

Malays-Melanau divide

A long-serving member of the federal cabinet, Abang Abu Bakar comes from a prominent political Malay family.

He fought his way to the post of PBB's deputy president and was a key politician in agitating for Umno's entry into Sarawak.

However, he was dropped from the Barisan Nasional list of candidates in the 1999 general elections. He subsequently quit PBB.

Sarawak is the only state in the federation without Umno's presence. It has been widely speculated that Abang Abu Bakar's proposal to bring in Umno was to exploit the Malay-Melanau divide within PBB.

Top Umno leaders have denied that they were behind Abang Abu Bakar's campaign.

It is believed that the shift by caretaker chief minister and PBB leader Abdul Taib Mahmud from his former Malay-predominated constituency of Asajaya to Balingian, a constituency in his own Melanau heartland, was to avoid a face-to-face with Abang Abu Bakar.

Abang Abu Bakar, who is contesting in Asajaya, will now battle against PBB's Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah and Keadilan's Abdullah Daraup.

In the leaflet, Abang Abu Bakar stressed that the issue of Malay unity and Umno will be key in the election.

"For those who are voting this year, the unity of the Malay race (comprising Malay, Iban, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and Melanau bumiputras) is a bigger agenda than the issue of Abang Abu Bakar or (caretaker chief minister) Abdul Taib Mahmud," he said.

"Unity of the rakyat under the Malay race will involve about 70 percent of the Sarawak population," he added.

Listen to the grassroots

Abang Abu Bakar said Umno members from the peninsula should go to the grassroots and hear what the state Barisan Nasional leaders have been telling the people.

"The people will tell you that Umno in the peninsula is already dead, and they ask why should Abang Abu Bakar want to bring a dead party over here," he said.

"Any sincere Umno member will feel hurt when he hears this, especially when this is said time and again by their 'friends'," he added.

Abang Abu Bakar also reiterated that his ABU group was not part of the opposition.

"If we were in the opposition, we would surely not put in any effort to bring Umno to Sarawak," he said.

"We want to unite the bumiputras under the Malay race by getting rid of leaders who fail to do their duties and live up to the mandate given by the people of Sarawak," he added.

On the issue of native customary rights and Malay reserve lands being taken away by the government, Abang Abu Bakar said the authorities will "cover up their weaknesses by making statements full of lies".

"But the people of Sarawak know the real situation as they are the ones who have personally swallowed the bitter pill due to the land policies," he said.

"I have heard their grievances with my own ears and they have provided the relevant documents. We will reveal all evidence during the campaign," he added.