The decision to hold the Himpunan 355 rally was announced by KL Mayor Mhd Amin Nordin Abdul Aziz.

In a statement today, he said the application to hold the rally was submitted late last month.

“The application was approved considering the fact that Taman Tasik Titiwangsa is currently being upgraded for the River of Life project.

“DBKL has no problem with the organiser’s application to use Padang Merbok as the gathering point, (as long as they) abide by the set rules,” he said.

The announcement contradicted an earlier decision by DBKL itself, and Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, who last month insisted that no rally could be held at either Dataran Merdeka or Padang Merbok.

It was suggested instead that PAS gather at Titiwangsa Stadium.

PAS, however, had urged DBKL to consider its application. It had initially applied to use Dataran Merdeka.

The organisers said about 300,000 people were expected to come in a show of support for PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang’s proposal to amend the Shariah Courts (Criminal Jurisdiction) Act, better known as Act 355.

PAS’ move to now hold the rally at Padang Merbok, however, means a potential clash with another rally organised by secular activist group Bebas, which had earlier planned to protest Hadi’s proposal on the same day at Padang Merbok.

Its member, Azrul Mohd Khalib, in a statement issued this afternoon accused PAS of trying to create chaos and intimidate those who wished to object to the proposed amendments.

He said this was the reason PAS had chosen to move its rally to the location Bebas had announced for its counter-rally, titled “Malaysians Reject Hadi’s Bill”.

“Since we’re not interested in physically confronting PAS, we have decided to move our rally to the Taman Jaya Park opposite Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya, a public park that belongs to all Malaysians.

“The rally will be held at the same date and time on Feb 18 at 3pm.

“Bebas has notified the police, in accordance with the law.”