COMMENT I am curious. Why does the Citizens’ Declaration not extend to Sabah and Sarawak? Are we not part of Malaysian citizens? If it doesn’t extend to Sabah and Sarawak, it shouldn’t be called a Citizens’ Declaration, instead it should be named as Malayan Declaration!

Thus, I have a few questions.

1. Why does the Citizens’ Declaration not extend to Sabah and Sarawak? Are Sabah and Sarawak are not part of Malaysian social and democracy movement?

2. Why would Anwar Ibrahim warn us against Dr Mahathir Mohamad?

3. If Dr Mahathir is not needed by the Citizens’ Declaration to remove any stigma of his personality on this movement, why not eject him?

4. If the Citizens’ Declaration was so vital, why aren’t all opposition parties and leaders supporting it? All supported Bersih, why can’t they support the Citizens’ Declaration?

5. If the Citizens’ Declaration can be successful without leading personalities, why does the Citizen's Declaration continue parading them at each event? Do they deny that many of the 1.25 million signatures would have been achievable without them?

Regarding Anwar Ibrahim’s letter from Sungai Buloh, Anwar is the real man in politics. We have to accept that both Dr Mahathir and Anwar are rivals in politics.

In spite of his concern, Anwar didn’t ask PKR to step down from this movement. He, however asked the leaders in PKR to to be more careful. Not all of the enemies of our enemies are our ‘friends’.

In politics we never know what is going to happen in the the future. I am not saying he is right or they are wrong, but everyone has their own personal opinion. Believe me, Anwar loves Malaysia, too. He would not commit anything that can jeopardise our country.

As a veteran politician, Anwar knows the situation best. The reality of this Citizens’ Declaration is, everyone was hoping that they could outsmarted each other to fulfil their own agenda.

If we could be more perceptive, i would say Dr Mahathir has the upper hand in achieving his own objective to remove Najib. Then, the opposition will relish the opportunity of damaging the current government, because they know well that they are not in full strength to do so. (Nobody can deny that only Anwar can unite the opposition in Malaysia).

The NGOs were very naive for hoping for political reforms by joining forces with the politician.

‘We wish Dr M could be more holistic’

With all that has been said to justify the legitimacy of the Citizens’ Declaration, we know that Dr Mahathir’s preaching has always been consistent - he wants Najib Abdul Razak to step down. Yes, this is not Dr Mahathir’s solo rally, but we wish he could be more holistic in working towards institutional reformation, rather than 100 percent concentrating on impeachment of the current PM.

I’m just an ordinary Sarawakian who wants to see a better future for our country. But I would wholeheartedly sign the Citizens’ Declaration if Dr Mahathir humbly apologises for the alleged systemic destruction he had caused during his tenureship.

He would have my greatest respect if he does that, furthermore, we aren’t all perfect. But the journey towards perfection, is to admit and learn from our mistakes.

Lastly, the Citizens’ Declaration is not complete without the participation from Sabah and Sarawak. And it is only partially complete without any intention for a total institutional reform and to release Anwar. If the Citizens’ Declaration is really sincere to remove Najib from Putrajaya, it should include the voice of Sabahans and Sarawakians and seek total institutional reform by releasing our Malaysian democracy icon, Anwar Ibrahim.

ABDUL AZIZ ISA MARINDO is special assistant to YB Chong Chieng Jen, Petra Jaya DAP Socialist Youth publicity secretary and former DAP candidate for N13 Batu Kitang.