Yii, who is contesting in Batu Kawah, posted a video on his Facebook page showing men bringing down a billboard which stated that the rakyat were suffering as the state ruling coalition Gabungan Parti Sarawak was unable to control the rising prices of goods.

He also posted a second video of men bringing down another billboard which said Pakatan Harapan’s victory in the 2018 general election had led to former premier Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor being charged in court, Goods and Services Tax being abolished, and to fairer allocation for Chinese schools.

Yii said election officers told him that action against the PH billboard was taken under the Election Offence Act for “promoting feelings of ill-will or hostility”.

“Even after many of our attempts to convince them, the enforcers were still adamant – they cut down our billboard with a chainsaw,” he said.

“Essentially, our message was – people’s votes mattered! Yet such an empowering message did not go down well with the enforcement team and their bosses.”

In a separate post, he questioned how it could be deemed an election offence for stating the fact that prices of goods have gone up and that the government had failed (to) control it.

Last week, Parti Aspirasi Rakyat Sarawak (Aspirasi) president Lina Soo was instructed to take down a billboard promoting Sarawak’s secession from Malaysia, with the EC deeming the campaign material to be “provocative”.

The billboard in question shows scissors “cutting” Sarawak away from Peninsular Malaysia and with a message urging Sarawakians to “wake up”.

Soo said she would comply although the EC refused to tell her the specific element that was deemed “provocative”.

Sarawak goes to the polls on Saturday, with early voting taking place tomorrow.