COMMENT Earlier this week, a group of influential Malaysians signed a “Citizens' Declaration” urging that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak be removed and for institutional reforms.

This is a major escalation in the effort to remove Najib, and an extraordinary development in Malaysian politics. Najib has faced months of exposé, investigations, and rebukes for alleged corruption relating to the 1MDB scandal.

The signing of the declaration is the first time that Najib’s critics from opposing sides have explicitly united against him. Opposition leaders and civil society figures, on the one hand, and disaffected members (and ex-members) of Najib’s own party, on the other, have put their differences aside to “save Malaysia”.