Organisers of the anti-TPPA rally have rejected an offer from the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) to hold their protest at Padang Merbok.

Rally director Kamaruzaman Mohamad said that they will stick to their original plan to assemble at Dataran Merdeka, but will continue to negotiate with DBKL over the matter.

Though according to him, they will consider Padang Merbok as their protest venue if needs be.

"We will see what it is like on that day, if needs be we will go to Padang Merbok, but for now we are still staying put with our decision to hold it at Dataran Merdeka," he told reporters at a press conference in Bangsar today.

According to reports, DBKL has rejected the organisers' application for permission to hold their rally at the Dataran Merdeka, suggesting that they gather at Padang Merbok instead.

Kamaruzaman said in the two days they still have left before the rally scheduled for Jan 23, the organisers will continue to work towards a solution.

"We are at 90 percent on preparation before the day of the rally, the only issue now is the venue, but we will continue to appeal to the DBKL," he said.

The rally director said that participants will gather at four locations, namely Masjid Negara, Masjid Jamek, Masjid India and Dataran Sogo at 2pm, before moving towards Dataran Merdeka.

He said that part of the itinerary for the day includes speeches by representatives from participating NGOs, politicians and an anti-TPPA flash mob.

The highlight of the protest will be the handover of a memorandum to all parliamentarians present on that day to convey to the Dewan Rakyat.

Kamaruzaman related further that organisers will issue guidelines to rally participants this evening.

"We will issue a guideline tonight, some of which, is that no one below the age of 15 can attend, nor can participants bring along any weapons," he said.

Other than permission from DBKL to use Dataran Merdeka, rally organisers will also have to settle with police on proper notifications of their planned gathering as required by the Peaceful Assembly Act, though as last reported, police said that they are still waiting for full notification from Bantah TPPA organisers.

The protest marks the culmination of public outcry against the unpopular trade pact which saw strange bedfellows coming together as political rivals and opposing NGOs walk together if not hand in hand, in the run up to the special parliamentary sitting next week to decide on Malaysia's participation in the international agreement.