“In fact they have also deviated from their original objectives,” said Azalina Othman Said, a minister in the prime minister’s department.

Bersih 2.0, a coalition of societies and organisations, is holding the Bersih 5 rally in Kuala Lumpur today to call for the removal of Najib Razak as prime minister. Other rally demands are for political and other reforms.

Azalina said that although Bersih 2.0 claimed to be champions of free and fair elections, the group was nothing more than an opposition movement under the cover of an independent civil society.

Those opposition leaders who backed the coalition were nothing more than a motley crew of former enemies driven by self-interest, not the greater good of society.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, are among those who support Bersih.

“If it was really the people they truly cared about, they would not break Malaysia’s laws and bring chaos to our capital, negatively impacting businesses and the people who are trying to go about their daily lives.“

She said that Malaysia was modelled after a Westminster style parliamentary democracy where the party with the largest number of members in the House of Representatives forms the government.

The coalition should not abuse the fundamental right to assemble peacefully, she said. It was unlawful for any party to try to unseat a democratically-elected government through street protests.

“They should play by the rules of our democracy and wait until the next election so that the majority of Malaysians can again choose their government via the ballot box.”