FMT is given to understand that the vehicles began operating at 8.30pm on Tuesday at the Sekinchan town centre, having been set up to allow MCA and BN leaders to give their speeches from the vehicles.

However, their youth leaders had only spoken for less than an hour before Election Commission (EC) officers came to inspect their permit.

The vehicles were removed from the scene after the EC officers found that they did not have the necessary permit to operate.

In a report in Sin Chew Daily, an MCA spokesman was quoted as saying the party would request for permits so that their ceramah could go on as usual.

Speeches by Parti Amanah Negara (Amanah) leaders, scheduled for 10pm Tuesday night, were also initially barred by the EC.

However, after some negotiations, the EC allowed them to talk for 30 minutes, until 11pm, despite not having a permit. About 30 locals attended this talk.

The Sungai Besar by-elections, set for 18 June, will see BN candidate Budiman contesting against PAS candidate and Meru assemblyman Abdul Rani Osman, as well as Amanah candidate Azhar Abdul Shukur.

The Sungai Besar constituency has 42,836 registered voters, with 67.18 per cent Malays, 30.68 per cent Chinese, 1.91 per cent Indians, and 0.23 per cent from other races.