Umno Supreme Council member Puad Zarkashi said Hanipa’s call for Mohamad, also known as Mat Sabu, to resign from his ministerial post was irrelevant.

“This is the old style of politics often seen when one is no longer in office,” Puad said in a Facebook post.

He also said there was no need for Hanipa, a former Sepang MP, to bring up his past court appearances defending Mohamad, who had frequently participated in protests.

“The point is, you (Hanipa) should continue supporting those organising rallies in unauthorised locations when they inevitably face prosecution,” Puad added.

Malaysiakini previously quoted Hanipa as saying that he had been arrested several times while defending Mohamad’s right to participate in peaceful assemblies.

Hanipa also said that Putrajaya had nothing to fear in allowing the rally, and that it would boost the unity government’s image.

Yesterday, the legal adviser for the Himpunan Rakyat Benci Rasuah secretariat hit out at home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail for insisting that permission must be obtained to hold the gathering outside the Sogo department store.

Zaid Malik, who is also director of rights group Lawyers for Liberty, said Saifuddin’s statement “defies both logic and law”.

Zaid also asked why the government should be so afraid of an anti-corruption rally “when they have made a boast of fighting corruption”.

Saifuddin had told the Himpunan Rakyat Benci Rasuah secretariat that prior consent would be needed from Sogo for the rally to continue.

He said this when dismissing claims by the organisers that the condition set by the police had no legal basis and contravened the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

The rally is to commence outside Sogo and proceed towards Dataran Merdeka.

Human rights lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan had also said that the rally organisers need not obtain the permission of Kuala Lumpur City Hall to gather at Dataran Merdeka as it was a public space belonging to all Malaysians.