A group of individuals, calling itself 'Rakyat Tuanku', today showed its respect and appreciation to the Malay rulers outside Istana Negara, ahead of the special meeting of the Conference of Rulers to select the 15th Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Forming a line from outside the main gates of the palace, awaiting the arrival of the rulers, the group yelled "Daulat Tuanku" thrice each time a royal entourage entered the palace.

First to arrive was the entourage of the Sultan of Johor, followed by the other eight rulers including the incumbent Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

The group, some 40 of them dressed in white T-shirts with the words ‘Rakyat Tuanku’ emblazoned on the front, complete with the traditional songkok, had gathered as early as 7am.

The gathering seemed like a straightforward affair and like the group’s spokesperson Mahathir Mohd Rais said, was conducted to show the their respect to the current Agong and to also welcome the incoming Agong.

But former Umno man Khairuddin Abu Hassan admitted that his presence there today, apart from showing appreciation to the rulers, was to plead to the Conference of Rulers to respond to the rakyat’s grievances.

“Especially on the issue of corruption, the 1MDB scandal and abuse of power.

“I want to appeal to the Malay rulers to give just a little bit of consideration to the rakyat’s grievances,” he said.

Khairuddin, a prominent figure in the Citizens’ Declaration movement, also admitted that today’s gathering was related to it.

“I would say to a certain extent that there is some relation to the Citizens’ Declaration because we are among those involved in it,” he said.

Also present were today former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s lawyer Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla, former Selangor Perkasa chief Abu Bakar Yahya, as well as the mostly young male participants, many of them from the Klang Valley.

Commenting on the small number of people, Khairuddin pointed out how it was “not a matter of numbers”.

“We are doing this as a gesture to show the rakyat’s respect and love to the rulers.

“That's why we want a small group so that it looks more organised, that is our aim," he said.

Meanwhile, Mahathir, who shares the same name as the vocal former prime minister, admitted that his father is a fan of the nonagenarian.

“I think my father is a fan of Tun (Mahathir) so the reason why we have gathered here today (is) to show that Tun is not fighting alone. (That) we, the youngsters are with Tun,” said the 26-year-old.

Mahathir, who works as an operations and marketing manager of a security firm expressed hope that the rulers will take into account the Citizens’ Declaration due to pressing current issues in the country.

“We hope that the special meeting will include the issue of the Citizens’ Declaration,” he added.

The former premier had last month submitted the Citizens’ Declaration to incumbent Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah.

Mahathir had brought with him the Citizens' Declaration, as well as photos of the 1.3 million documents that the Save Malaysia group claimed were signed by the public.

The declaration - an effort undertaken by Umno rebels, the opposition and civil society - calls for institutional reforms, and for the removal of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Mahathir however admitted that he had failed to convince the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the Citizens’ Declaration during the meeting.