Former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan said civil society leaders who signed the Citizens’ Declaration are prepared to face the backlash.

"By the way if you ask me if I will do it again knowing of the backlash, my answer is yes. Unless there are any better ideas," she told Malaysiakini .

She said people were entitled to question the move and answers must be provided to them.

"What matters is that we gave it serious thought and consulted with others before deciding to sign. It’s crystal clear in my mind that it is critical for us to put aside our differences for the nation and try to do something.

"We have to appeal to a wide spectrum of people and they must know that it is okay to have differences, but still have the same goal of saving the nation," she added, stressing that inaction is no longer an option for those who seek to push for change in Malaysia.

She also insisted that the struggle for long-term institutional reforms would continue.

"It's early days yet but we all know where we agree.

"We should not speculate too much at this stage. What we need to say is in the declaration. Let us move on from there," she said.

Ambiga also responded to Mukhriz Mahathir's statement that the declaration seeks to replace Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak with another Umno leader.

"In my opinion there is no PM by default in a situation where there is a removal.

"It will still have to be someone who enjoys the majority in the House. What is important is that we have someone committed to reform," she said.

Ambiga said the important thing is that the PM must be removed via legal means either through a vote of no confidence in the legislature or through the "Perak way", referring to how the head of government can determine the level of support for a sitting chief executive among elected representatives.

However, Ambiga said that she will refrain from speculations on who should replace the PM, but reiterated that her main stipulation is that the person is committed to the "reform agenda " with focus on free and fair elections, and moved forward with them.

“Then the people can decide (during an election).

“There are other options, too, to hold the fort until the next general election to allow for the electoral process to be cleaned up, but I would leave that for now,” she said.

Bersih 2.0 chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, however, has refused further comments on the matter when contacted.

“Let us sort it out. My lips are sealed. No comments for now,” she said when contacted.

Ambiga and Maria were among 58 signatories who inked the declaration with former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The others included opposition and NGO leaders as well as Mahathir's allies.

Certain quarters have criticised the civil society and opposition for joining hands with Mahathir.

Former Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) executive director V Gayathry had raised questions over the process which led to their support.

"Did the wider community of NGOs discuss the declaration and the strategies post-declaration? I think the answer is no, but I’m happy to hear otherwise," she said.

Gayathry also stressed that she would not be supporting the declaration since Umno would remain as its main beneficiary.