During Dr Mahathir Mohamad's tenure as prime minister, the Internal Security Act (ISA) was used liberally by the premier to silence dissent.

Among the victims were former Selangor PKR senator Syed Husin Ali, who spent six years detained under ISA, and activist Irene Xavier, who testified that she was beaten and humiliated during her time as a detainee under the detention without trial law.

Now, however, they say Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak is a bigger threat and if working with Mahathir can help get rid of Najib, then that is what should be done.

"What he (Mahathir) has done, he has done, and what he did wrong will always be wrong. (But) it's a matter of whether we can save this country right now," Xavier ( photo ) said, when contacted by Malaysiakini yesterday.

Syed Husin agreed, adding that Najib is the main enemy now, with the power to undermine the country and the people's welfare.

"We have to be clear now who the main enemy that is causing disaster to the country and the people.

"At present, it is none other than Najib because he has the control, power, and money.

"Mahathir is not the main enemy now. He doesn't have that much power in order to do what Najib can do," he told Malaysiakini.

Both also think the Citizens’ Declaration signed by Mahathir, his allies, various opposition figures and civil society leaders, is a good move.

Xavier said that for now, all of them are agreeable on a "minimum action" together, which is to work towards removing Najib from power.

This does not mean that Mahathir's past wrongs have been forgiven, she clarified, but now that he has taken a position against Najib, he can provide more space to get rid of Najib.

"He caused a lot of things that happened now because he's the one who put many things in the wrong place.

"But under the circumstances, since he's now taking this position (against Najib), giving us some space to get rid of Najib and maybe give us a better chance to work on a free and fair elections by putting in place an interim government if Najib steps down," she said.

Syed Husin ( photo ) said what Mahathir is doing now does not "cleanse his past", but the past should not be raised in this issue.

"We are now facing the present for the future and in doing so, we have to recognise who the main enemy of the state and people is, and we have to cooperate together in order to bring (change).

"There is no need to raise the issues of what he (Mahathir) has done," he explained.

‘Battle for the systems’

This is not a personal battle to Xavier either, who stressed that this is a "battle for the systems in this country".

"We've seen what Mahathir did and now, what Najib is doing is even worse than Mahathir," she said.

In addressing Mahathir's vagueness in terms of the reforms talked about in the Citizens’ Declaration, Syed Husin said the most important thing is that the longest-serving prime minister has signed the document.

Even if Mahathir does not agree with the reforms, ultimately he has already signed the document so he can be held accountable, Syed Husin said.

"Whatever he says after that will show badly on himself, or well, if he stands by what he has signed.

"If he turns around now to say that he doesn't agree (with the reforms), it would show him to be hypocritical," he noted.

Syed Husin, a sociology professor who taught at Universiti Malaya, spent six years from 1974 to 1980 in ISA detention after he was arrested following a student demonstration in support of farmers in Baling and in protest against poverty and increase in cost of living.

Meanwhile, Xavier was targeted for her women's rights activism and was one of the 106 people detained under the ISA during Operation Lallang in 1987.