KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — With five days till polling, Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Lokman Noor Adam cried foul after he was ordered to remove his election banners in Sungai Kandis.

He said the order to take down the banners came from the Election Commssion (EC).

"Today we got an order from the Election Commission that we have to take down all our banners.

"The reason was that it was making them uneasy,” Lokman told a news conference in the Selangor state constituency this morning, without stating if he was referring to the EC or otherwise.

Malay Mail was able to obtain a recording of the press conference.

Lokman said his banners read: "Kalau mahu Pakatan Harapan tunai janji, undilah Barisan Nasional”.

Translated, it states: "If you wish Pakatan Harapan to fulfil its promises, vote Barisan Nasional”.

He rejected views that the banners were provocative, saying they were "polite” and did not court any "racial” controversy whatsoever.

He added that the banner’s words were no different from the slogans used by Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidates in the run-up to the 14th general election when they asked voters to choose their coalition if they wanted the goods and services tax abolished.

"We never took down one of their posters. So why are they afraid this time?

"It’s the same, right? If I am chosen, I will definitely claim that the tools which were promised to be abolished, be abolished for real. Even if I don’t win, I will still demand it,” he said.

The Sungai Kandis by-election will be held on August 4 with a three-cornered fight between Zawawi, Lokman and independent Murthi Krishnasamy.