Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin said while organisers were framing the July 26 protest as a response to public frustration, their real motive lay elsewhere.

“This is not about the people, it is about a small group attempting to reverse what they failed to achieve through the ballot box,” he said in his speech at the National Economic Forum organised by the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia.

Perikatan Nasional is reportedly aiming to draw 300,000 participants to the rally at Dataran Merdeka. A smaller protest held in Shah Alam on July 6 drew over 300 attendees.

Shamsul said the government was given the mandate through a “free and fair” election and had been working tirelessly since then to resolve long-standing issues left by previous administrations such as institutional decay and weaknesses in governance and fiscal management.

“You do not fix democracy by disrespecting it,” he said, warning against attempts to distort the democratic process.

“If change is desired, contest the next election, that is the democratic way. This protest is not a movement for justice but a performance for relevance,” he said.