KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 — The Home Ministry will allow the March 27 gathering of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s critics, deputy minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed said, although such events are seen as a public “nuisance”.

Nur Jazlan said out of respect for democracy, the gathering can proceed although Putrajaya does not agree with its objectives.

“If they still want to go ahead with it, they can because we practise democracy but we ask for the organisers to be responsible about it (and) make sure no problems arise because later they will blame the government and the police,” he told reporters when met outside the Parliament lobby today.

Nur Jazlan added, however, that the police will be monitoring all related events in the run-up to the March 27 gathering to see if they lead to any trouble.

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“We also don’t want to tie down any quarters but those responsible should be responsible to ensure that whatever they do does not become a political effort which inconveniences a lot of people.

“If they can promise to do the demonstration well then there is no need for us to stop it but the point is, at the end of the day, we have to see again… as the build up to the rally, whether the rally itself has the potential to cause any problem especially in terms of traffic and injury.

“So the police will monitor and if they need to take action, they will take action,” he explained.

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The closed door gathering on March 27 is organised by former law minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

The event is expected to draw a crowd of about 1,000 Najib critics and will feature former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as its keynote speaker.

Other speakers include DAP’s Lim Kit Siang, Parti Amanah Negara’s (Amanah) Mohammad Sabu and activists, Maria Chin Abdullah and Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan.