Two thousand five hundred signatures, and counting, with almost half of it registered online .

The first bundle of signatures collected by April 28 will be handed over to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi with an open letter reaffirming the supremacy of the Federal Constitution.

The signature petition launched a month ago draws urgent attention to fears that constitutional rights are steadily being undermined by executive and legislative decisions.

Article 11, a coalition of non-governmental organisations named after the constitutional provision, initiated the public campaign through hard and soft copies of the open letter.

The letter reminds parliamentarians, cabinet ministers and judges to honour their oath of office in defending the Federal Constitution, to reaffirm the country's secular nature and to ensure judicial independence.

Ivy Josiah, Article 11 spokesperson and executive director of the Women's Aid Organisation which is the coalition secretariat, said a meeting is being sought with Abdullah.

"Next week, we will write in officially for an appointment in early May to hand over the first set of signatures," she said when contacted.

"However, that does not mark the end of the campaign or that we will stop collecting the signatures. It will be an ongoing effort complemented by seminars in several states."

Mass mailing

The open letter to the prime minister has been sent out in the thousands in the form of hard and soft copies, by hand and via e-mails.

"In addition to English, we had the letter translated into the vernacular languages of Malay, Mandarin and Tamil but I'm not sure how have many signed those.

"We'll have a figure when the forms are returned by April 28."

Article 11 will have joint programmes throughout the country, kicking off in Melaka next week, Penang in May and followed by East Malaysia.

On March 13, over 800 people underwent a crash course on constitutional rights by a panel of lawyers and rights activists at a public forum in Petaling Jaya.

Spooked by a series of controversial cases, many came to clarify, better understand and voice their concerns over thorny issues such as Malaysia's Islamic state status and the conflict between Islamic and civil laws.

The cases of M Moorthy, S Shamala, Kamariah Ali, Nyonya Tahir and Lina Joy in the exercise of the freedom of religion serve as clear illustrations.

Several religious groups including the Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sikhism, and Muslim individuals have openly expressed concern.

Early this year, there were calls to amend Article 121(1)(A) and to set up a constitutional court to resolve matters of conversion.