1986 Sabah riots

At least five bombs exploded in Sandakan killing one newspaper vendor and injuring a senior Police Field Force officer.

It was reported that mobs took to the streets to bring down the president of PBS Pairin Kitingan from the Chief Minister post.

[3] It was also suspected that the riots were triggered by the losing parties including BN to bring forth a proclamation of emergency to justify a takeover by the federal government[4] similar to those which happened in 1966 in Sarawak and 1977 in Kelantan.

Tun Mustapha then sought to get sworn in as Chief Minister illegally,[7] and this resulted in a court battle which ended in favour of Pairin.

[10] Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also tried to negotiate with PBS to form a coalition with BN in return for peace in the state.