Mohamad was responding to former deputy law minister Hanipa Maidin, who challenged him to resign if the government continued to block an anti-corruption rally in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon.

It was previously reported by Malaysiakini that Hanipa said he had been arrested several times when defending the Amanah president’s right to participate in peaceful assemblies.

“(Hanipa) is free to express his opinion in a democratic world,” Mohamad told a press conference after giving his policy speech at Amanah’s annual national convention here today.

Asked if there could be any grounds for him to resign from the Cabinet, he said: “That is only if the prime minister tells me to.”

Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, also said Amanah members may choose to attend the rally if they wish to, as he had no problem with that.

“This is a democracy, and we are free to demonstrate. Anyone who wants to participate, there is no problem. It’s just that we have a convention right now. Otherwise, some of us might have attended,” he said.

On Amanah Youth’s so-called more measured response to the recent controversy over a pre-packed chicken ham and cheese sandwich, Mohamad said the youth wing had been advised to avoid making racially charged statements.

“Sometimes, when we issue a statement, we must remember that we are a multiracial society. A statement might please one community but alienate others,” he said.

He also acknowledged that Amanah has not yet won full support from Malay-Muslim voters. However, he believes that public confidence in the party is growing ahead of the 16th general election.

“We are optimistic that we are expanding, and our membership grows every month. Amanah was only established in 2015, and by 2018 and 2020, we were already in government. We are still working to broaden our influence,” he said.