1986 Sabah riots

The 1986 Sabah riots, also called The Silent Riot,[1] happened between March and May 1986 in different parts of Sabah, Malaysia. Most of the violence happened in Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Sandakan. On 12 March, seven bombs exploded in Kota Kinabalu. Another bomb exploded in Tawau. At least five bombs went off in Sandakan, killing one newspaper seller and injuring a senior Police Field Force officer. In total, 5 people died.[2]

History

The riots started after the 1985 state election, when the new party Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) won and replaced Parti Berjaya, which was part of Barisan Nasional (BN). Some people were angry and wanted to remove PBS president Pairin Kitingan from being Chief Minister.[3]

It was also believed that the losing parties, including BN, wanted to create an emergency to take control of the state. This was similar to what happened in 1966 in Sarawak and 1977 in Kelantan.[4]

Pairin used to be a member of Berjaya. He started PBS just 47 days before the election.[5] Leaders of the other parties, Harris Salleh of Berjaya and Tun Mustapha of USNO, were unhappy with the results. Tun Mustapha tried to become Chief Minister illegally,[6] which led to a court case. The court decided in favour of Pairin.[7][8]

PBS later called for a snap election because some of its members defected.[9] Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad tried to make a deal with PBS to join BN for peace in the state. Finally, the election happened on 4 and 5 May 1986. PBS won again, this time with a bigger margin.[10]

Legacy

A documentary about the 1986 riots was made by Sabahan filmmaker Nadira Ilana in 2012. The film is called The Silent Riot and was one of the winning proposals for the Freedom Film Fest (FFF) 2012.[1]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Amy Dangin (25 October 2012). "Screening of film on 1986 Sabah riot Oct 27". The Borneo Post.
  2. ↑ Kalimullah Hassan (18 November 2007). "OPINION: Reforms yes, but not through violence in the streets". New Straits Times.
  3. ↑ Barbara Crossette (1 October 1987). "Kota Kinabalu Journal; With Houses on Stilts and Hopes in Another Land". The New York Times.
  4. ↑ Alan Ting (5 February 2009). "Nizar Not First To Refuse To Quit". Bernama.
  5. ↑ K. Ramanathan Kalimuthu (1986). "The Sabah State Elections of April 1985". Asian Survey. 26 (7). Asian Survey, Vol. 26, No. 7: 815–837. doi:10.2307/2644213. JSTOR 2644213.
  6. ↑ Kalimullah Hassan (18 November 2007). "OPINION: Reforms yes, but not through violence in the streets". New Straits Times.
  7. ↑ Crossette, Barbara (1 October 1987). "Kota Kinabalu Journal; With Houses on Stilts and Hopes in Another Land". The New York Times.
  8. ↑ "Historical Background". Parti Bersatu Sabah. Archived from the original on 2013-04-15.
  9. ↑ Suhaini Aznam (22 June 2008). "Is snap polls the answer?". The Star.
  10. ↑ "Malaysia – Pilihan Raya – Pilihan Raya Umum Sabah (1986)". GeoCities.
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