PBS had earlier put up a billboard at Bandar Nasalim mocking DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng as saying there was nothing he could do about the lack of parking space at the Sandakan hospital if the party’s candidate Vivian Wong lost the by-election.

The billboard featured a screen grab from Astro AEC news, which reported Lim as uttering those remarks, with the headline: “If we win, then find me, if we lose, then there’s nothing I can do.”

The screen grab showed pictures of Lim and Wong.

The Election Commission ordered the billboard to be taken down after DAP complained that it implied the party was threatening the voters. It said Lim’s remarks were taken out of context.

PBS then put up a banner bearing the original message but without the Astro AEC screen grab.

DAP, claiming PBS was misleading the people, countered by putting up a smaller banner next to it, which said: “Fake news. The media has already apologised but PBS continues to lie”.

This was in reference to Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh, which apologised for running an article on the banner controversy. The DAP accepted its apology.

However, at about 4pm today, PBS put up another banner which read: “Rocket is lying again. Dare to speak but dare not admit. If you dare come and sue us and Astro”.

PBS supreme council member Goon Thien Shang said DAP did not dare to admit that Lim had made those remarks.

He said Lim should deny the report if it was really fake news.

While most of the banners and posters put up in Sandakan belong to DAP and PBS, there are hardly any featuring the three independent condidates contesting the by-election.

The three independents – Chia Siew Yung, Hamzah Abdullah and Sulaiman Abdul Samat – are going up against Wong and PBS’ Linda Tsen.