Responding to concerns about approval for the Himpunan Rakyat Benci Rasuah, Anwar said the government has granted permission for the rally.

“We have no problem (with the rally),” he told reporters after Friday prayers here.

“Permission has been granted. The home minister (Saifuddin Nasution Ismail) himself said so.

“There are just certain locations where approval hasn’t been granted. But, for me, there’s no issue.

“Go on, protest corruption … if you want to rally, go ahead and rally.”

Anwar said his administration has been committed to combating corruption during his two years as prime minister, adding that corruption cases being raised now are “old ones”.

“But when we talk about billions of ringgit that went missing in the past, there’s no uproar and no support for action,” he said, in an apparent reference to the 1MDB scandal.

“In fact, some even defend the culprits.”

Earlier today, Kuala Lumpur police chief Rusdi Isa said the rally’s organisers had yet to resubmit their notice for the gathering after their initial notice was “incomplete”.

He said the organisers had yet to show they had the permission from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to use Dataran Merdeka as the venue for the gathering.

Rusdi also disputed claims that DBKL was not the owner of the venue, saying Padang Merbok and Dataran Merdeka had been gazetted as venues for gatherings, and that DBKL was the designated owner of these venues.

On Tuesday, Saifuddin rejected claims by the rally’s organisers that the condition set by the police to obtain prior consent from the owner or occupier of the place of assembly had no legal basis.

He urged the organisers not to kick up a fuss over the condition and said he was confident the police were acting in accordance with the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.