Ambiga Sreenevasan has defended the Citizens' Declaration, vowing to soldier on in the wake of a scathing letter penned by jailed former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

However, she declined to comment on the contents of the letter which described the Citizens' Declaration as being in principle, a document of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, was not in line with the reform agenda, and warned PKR leaders about the perils of working with the former premier.

"I have read the letter carefully as I always value his views," said the former Bar Council president when quizzed on the matter.

"It is nevertheless apparent to me that this was a private communication that contained his innermost thoughts and feelings that he was communicating to close members of his party.

"As such I believe it would be improper and an intrusion for me to comment on its contents. It appears to me that it was not meant for public consumption," she added.

Therefore, she stressed it was important that the privacy of his letter, which was addressed to PKR leaders, be respected.

Elaborating on the Citizens' Declaration, Ambiga said despite the numerous negative comments from various quarters, there has been much support for the document.

"We owe it to these brave rakyat who signed the declaration to continue in our quest for change and reform no matter what the hurdles are.

"Our focus must be drawn back to the present crisis afflicting our nation. We cannot deviate from our goal of bringing meaningful change through the Citizens' Declaration," she added.

Ambiga noted that it would be normal to encounter challenges during this pursuit.

"That only means that we have to work harder, which we will.

"We must. For we now hold in trust the signatures of more than 1.2 million rakyat and we have a responsibility to make them count," she said.

“The Citizens Declaration has given many people hope. We must persevere to keep that hope alive,” she added.

The main thrust of the Citizens' Declaration is to press for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s resignation over the allegations of mismanagement and corruption.

However, the prime minister has denied the allegations, and blamed them on those conspiring to topple him from power for their personal agendas.

With regard to Mahathir, Najib's supporters have accused the former premier of attempting to engineer the political ascension of his son.

The Citizens’ Declaration brought together opposition and civil society leaders, who were once staunch critics of Mahathir and often accused him of the same misdeeds as the current prime minister.

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