Bangi MP Syahredzan Johan, who had urged the authorities to allow the rally to proceed, said taking such a hardline approach “isn’t us”.

“We shouldn’t pretend to be authoritarian when we know we are certainly not.

“High time that we bring the state apparatus in line with what we truly are – reformists,” he said in a Facebook post this evening.

In the run-up to the Himpunan Rakyat Benci Rasuah held earlier this afternoon, the organisers were at loggerheads with the authorities over a requirement to obtain consent from Sogo and Kuala Lumpur City Hall for using public spaces as gathering points.

On Tuesday, home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail rejected claims by the rally’s organisers that there was no legal basis to a condition set by the police for prior consent to be obtained from the owner or occupier of the place of assembly.

The next day, government spokesman Fahmi Fadzil said the rally organisers must adhere to the law and seek permission from the site owner in accordance with the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012.

This led to civil society group Aliran calling on the two ministers to explain their “authoritarian opposition” to the gathering.

Syahredzan said the prime minister had to step in “for a rally that had little traction, if any, at all”. It was reported that about 200 protesters turned up.

“There was no threat. Political, or physical.

“There was no reason for the initial response from the police and authorities. They should have just agreed to facilitate from the start,” he said.