Cries of "Reformasi" reverberated across the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night as Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) chairperson Badrul Hisham Shaharin read out excerpts from a poem at the end of a letter by jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

Badrul Hisham, who is better known as Chegubard, was a panellist at a forum on the Citizens' Declaration.

Lines from the poem cautioned the people not to despair, for every struggle will always give birth to traitors and "bootlickers".

"Our focus is to bring down Umno and Barisan Nasional," Badrul Hisham said, to cries of "Reformasi!" from the crowd who are largely against the Citizens' Declaration movement.

The crowd's chants continued for a while and even drowned further explanations by another panel member, Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, who stressed that the Citizen’s Declaration is not against any attempts to bring down the government.

In Anwar's eight-page handwritten letter, he had raised concerns over former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's role in drafting the Citizens' Declaration original document.

Anwar also touched on the involvement of the PKR leaders with Mahathir, who towards the end of his 22-year reign in power, had removed him as deputy prime minister and triggered the Reformasi movement.

The forum featured a face-off between the Citizens' Declaration supporters and critics.

Aside from Badrul Hisham, also on the opposing side were PSM central committee member S Arutchelvan and lawyer Haris Ibrahim.

The supporters, meanwhile, were represented by Khalid, together with rights group Hakam president Ambiga Sreenivasan and former Umno Batu Kawan vice-chief Khairuddin Abu Hassan.

'Concerns over hidden agenda'

Haris said his opposition towards the movement was more due to concerns of a "hidden agenda" to save Umno and BN.

"I don't believe in any effort led by Mahathir and I see that it will not achieve the reforms demanded by the people… Umno and BN must be taken down, not just (Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak).

"So long as it (BN brought down) does not happen, don't ever hope for reforms to happen," Haris said to cheers from the crowd of some 300 people.

However, Khalid responded to the critics whom he said were 'digging up the past' to prevent future cooperations.

"Yes, he (Mahathir) has an agenda but that does not mean we can't get over it (with our own agenda). I am worried by this perception," Khalid said.

'Citizens' Declaration dividing the Opposition'

Arutchelvan, meanwhile, described the movement as being one that unites Najib's critics but has divided the opposition.

"Mahathir's presence has divided us. PKR and DAP are split into two; civil society groups are split into pieces," Arutchelvan said, adding that the move was also rushed through and only involved a small group of leaders.

He also warned that the movement has so far only brought "destruction" to the opposition.

The heated forum went on for more than two hours and the organisers were forced to interject several times and call for calm.