Sarawak state election, 1987

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15-16 April 1987

1991 →

All 48 seats in the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly
25 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party	Third party

Leader	Abdul Taib Mahmud	Daniel Tajem	Abdul Rahman Ya'kub
Party	Barisan Nasional	PBDS	PERMAS
Leader since	26 March 1981 (1981-03-26)	17 July 1983 (1983-07-17)	19 March 1987 (1987-03-19)
Leader's seat	Sebandi	Lingga (lost)	Matu-Daro (lost)
Last election	38 seats, 59.2%	6 seats, 9.3%	New party
Seats before	38	6	-
Seats won	28	15	5
Seat change	10	9	-
Popular vote	249,289	79,548	64,152
Percentage	55.3%	17.6%	14.2%
Swing	3.9%	8.3%	-

Chief Minister before election

Abdul Taib Mahmud
Barisan Nasional

Subsequent chief minister

Abdul Taib Mahmud
Barisan Nasional

The fifth Sarawak state election was held between Wednesday, 15 April and Thursday, 16 April 1987 with a nomination date set on Monday, 6 April 1987. This was a snap election following the Ming Court affair. The state assembly was dissolved on 12 March 1987 by Sarawak governor with the advice of chief minister of Sarawak, Abdul Taib Mahmud.

All the 48 Sarawak state assembly seats were contested. In this election, Sarawak Barisan Nasional (BN) fielded candidates for all 48 seats, PBDS for 21 seats, PERMAS for 21 seats, Democratic Action Party (DAP) for 11 seats, and Sarawak Democratik Bersatu (BERSATU) for one seat. There were 16 independents contesting for the seats. There were a total of 118 candidates vying for the seats, which was the lowest since 1979 election.

This snap election was called by Taib due to heightening of 1987 Ming Court Affair political crisis when Abdul Rahman Ya'kub together with 27 other state assemblymen signed a letter to call for Taib resignation. Abdul Rahman formed a new political party named Persatuan Rakyat Malaysia Sarawak (PERMAS) just before the election. Together with Parti Bansa Dayak Sarawak (PBDS), Abdul Rahman would form an opposition alliance to challenge Taib at the polls.

Sarawak BN, composed of Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB), Sarawak United Peoples' Party (SUPP), and Sarawak National Party (SNAP), won 28 out of 48 seats on the election day, thus able to form a government with a simple majority.

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