Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng appealed to those who used to support clean polls, but has since distanced themselves from the group, to return to Bersih's side.

Without mentioning names, Lim asked "they used to support Bersih but no longer do so, does it mean they are no longer clean?".

"We may have differences of opinion but we can at least agree on clean elections.

"Our differences are not important, what is important is that we support clean elections," said the DAP secretary-general during the launch of Bersih 5 at the Town Hall in Penang.

"We hope those who used to but now no longer support Bersih, those who used to be our friends, now opponents, will return to Bersih's side," he said as the crowd applauded.

Asked later if he were referring to PAS, Lim smiled at the query but was non-committal about the matter.

PAS, former allies with DAP in the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat, has decided not to support Bersih's mega-rally on Nov 19 in Kuala Lumpur, where one of the election watchdog's most controversial demand is for Prime Minister Najib Razak to quit his post over a series of financial scandals involving the 1MDB.

Last year, DAP declared Pakatan Rakyat dead and went on to launch a Penang Pakatan Harapan government with PKR and Parti Amanah Negara, a PAS splinter party led by Mohamed Sabu.

The Bersih launch today went ahead smoothly without any disruption from their fiercest critics, the red shirts led by Penang Umno Youth.

Also present with Lim at the event, which featured an exhibition of Bersih rally photos, were Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, state DAP chief cum state executive councillor Chow Kon Yeow and Bukit Mertajam MP.

The Bersih torch which made its round with the group's convoy in Perlis and Kedah was passed on to Lim.

It will travel from Penang to Parit Buntar, Perak on Oct 14.