Umno does not have the right to stop party members from attending the red-shirt rally on Saturday, party information chief Annuar Musa said today.

He said party members who joined the rally could do so in their personal capacity, and added that all citizens have a right to express themselves in a lawful manner.

Annuar, who is also Ketereh MP, advised participating Umno members to be law-abiding citizens.

"How can we stop people from doing what they want to do? Why should we take action against members (for participating)? We can't. Does DAP take action (against members)?

"You must differentiate between a person and the organisation. At the party level, we are not making any decision, but we are not stopping any member if they want to go.

"Be law-abiding citizens. Umno will not support anyone who goes against the law," Annuar when met by reporters in the Parliament lobby.

Sungai Besar Umno division head Jamal Md Yunos said he and his red-shirts would gather 300,000 people in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

They will hold a counter-rally against the Bersih 5 demonstration, which will be held on the same day to seek Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's resignation over the 1MDB scandal.

Annuar also warned Umno members that they must be responsible for their actions should they break any law on Saturday.

“If even the police can't stop them (from demonstrating), you expect the information chief to be able to do so?

“They have the space to demonstrate, but we want to remind them that if they break the law, they will have to be responsible."

Asked on Dr Mahathir Mohamad's call to members of the public to join in Bersih 5, Annuar said the former prime minister should be forgiven for this.

“It is better to forgive him. He's 90 years old, what would you expect? It's fine, we will compromise with him,” he said.