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.