KUALA LUMPUR, April 6 — The majority of Sarawakian feel that Putrajaya was sidelining Sarawak, and supported calls for greater autonomy in the east Malaysian state, a survey by Merdeka Center has revealed.

According to independent pollster Merdeka Center, 54 per cent of the 815 respondents polled were of the opinion that Sarawak was not receiving the treatment it deserved from the federal government.

The view could have bearing when the state holds its election, expected to be sometime late this month or early May.

“This sentiment is relatively higher among younger and non-Bumiputera voters as well as among those with higher household incomes,” it said in a statement today when releasing the results of its internally-funded survey.

Awareness of the autonomy advocacy group “Sarawak for Sarawakians” (S4S) was high at an overall 75 per cent of the respondents polled, but overall support for it stood at only 47 per cent with different race groups showing varying levels of support.

Out of the 47 per cent showing support for the S4S movement, 65 per cent and 48 per cent were from the Chinese and non-Muslim Bumiputera categories, respectively. From the overall 24 per cent that do not support the movement, 62 per cent and 26 per cent were classified as Muslim Bumiputera and non-Muslim Bumiputera.

An overwhelming 85 per cent of the respondents polled felt Sarawak should have more autonomy over its affairs, with most of the Chinese (55 per cent), Muslim Bumiputera (63 per cent) and non-Muslim Bumiputera (59 per cent) saying that the greater autonomy should be given in the area of economic management.

Respondents in the three categories also placed education as a top area where Sarawak should have more control, at 43 per cent, while support for greater autonomy in oil royalty was particularly high among the Muslim Bumiputera respondents (46 per cent).

Those who felt Sarawak had fared better as part of Malaysia amounted to 49 per cent, while 34 per cent believed it was worse off for being part of the country, the poll showed.

In the survey held from January 20 to January 26, 815 registered voters from all 82 state seats to be contested in the Sarawak election were interviewed through fixed line and mobile telephones.

The respondents’ composition and numbers reflect the electoral profile and total registered voters of these state seats, with those falling the non-Muslim Bumiputera, Chinese and Muslim Bumiputera categories at 38 per cent, 36 per cent and 27 per cent respectively.

The Sarawak state legislative assembly will be dissolved on April 11, with the state election for 82 seats required to be held within 60 days from that day.

The Election Commission has not fixed the nomination and polling date for this year’s Sarawak election that will be carried out with a budget of RM135 million, but Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Adenan Satem has indicated his preference for polls to be held on April 30.

Based on the latest electoral roll gazetted last December, a total of 1,141,294 people are eligible to vote in the Sarawak polls, including 14,000 and 9,500 from the armed forces and the police respectively.