Bersih reminded Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that the government had previously declared the electoral reform movment an illegal organisation and lost the matter in court.

This was after Ahmad Zahid, who is also home minister, said Bersih, as well as the anti-Bersih red-shirts movement, are not registered under the Societies Act 1966 and therefore banned from holding their planned rallies.

"In case the deputy prime minister has forgotten, the issue of Bersih not being registered with the Registrar of Societies was already brought up in 2012.

"The decision of the home minister at that time, Hishammuddin Hussein, to declare Bersih an illegal organisation was quashed by the High Court.

"The judge, Justice Rohana Yusof, said the decision was 'tainted with irrationality'," Bersih said in a statement today.

As such, Bersih said, the home minister has no power, be it under the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 (PAA) or the Societies Act 1966, to ban Bersih or the red-shirts from rallying.

Bersih, led by Maria Chin Abdullah, is registered under the Companies Act 1965 whereas the red-shirts movement led by Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Md Yunos is not registered.

Bersih is planning to hold a rally on Nov 19, which among others, is to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak over the 1MDB issue.

The red-shirts have vowed to confront Bersih protesters on the streets, accusing them of trying to overthrow the government.

In its statement today, Bersih said it complied with the PAA in all of its activities.

"On Oct 28, 2016, Bersih delivered the 10-day notice required under Section 9 of the PAA by hand to the police headquarters in Bukit Aman, IPD Dang Wangi, IPD Brickfields and IPK KL.

"The notice is to inform the authorities that the Bersih 5 rally would be held on Nov 19 from 10am to 6pm.

"Our adherence to the PAA also extends to all our Bersih convoys, which have been running every weekend since Oct 1," it said.

As such, the movement said, inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar's claim that Bersih did not submit notices for its roadshow is "false" and demanded he withdraws the "baseless allegation".

Bersih also gave its assurance that it would comply with the Kuala Lumpur City Hall's (DBKL) instruction not to enter Dataran Merdeka.

"We will, however, 'stubbornly' go with our rally in the vicinity of the area," it said.

KL mayor Mohamad Amin Nordin Abd Aziz has called Bersih "stubborn" for promising not to enter Dataran Merdeka but still insisting on demonstrating nearby.

Bersih criticised what it described as desperate attempts to "vilify and intimidate the people into withdrawing their attendance" from the rally.

It said this was an attempt to distract the people from the multi-billion ringgit deposits into Najib's personal bank accounts as well as the "unconstitutional" redelineation exercise to ensure the ruling coalition remained in power.

The prime minister has denied abusing public funds for personal gain.