COMMENT Maria Chin Abdullah, Ambiga Sreenevasan, Hishamuddin Rais and Cynthia Gabriel have done more for the nation than I can ever hope to do. I greatly admire and respect their sacrifices and contributions.

But putting them on a pedestal and treating them as if they can do no wrong does a disservice both to the nation and the legacy they will leave behind. Regretfully I find I cannot agree with much of what they said on the Citizen’s Declaration in the Town Hall meeting as reported in Malaysiakini 'Support Save Malaysia' , 'Critics grill signatories' and in the video clips. If the reporting is inaccurate, I apologise in advance, but I have nothing else to go on.

I agree entirely with the four signatories that Dr Mahathir Mohamad reaching out to opposition parties and civil society leaders is a unique opportunity which must be grasped, no matter what wrongs he has committed in the past. But I disagree that the Citizens’ Declaration is the only way civil society can work with Dr Mahathir.