Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah today announced plans to organise nationwide town hall meetings and gather public views on its ongoing institutional reform agenda.
In a Facebook post, Maria said it is important for the people to be involved in the process to democratise the Citizens' Declaration which was signed last Friday.
"It is not about (Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad), opposition or me, it's about the way forward for our nation.
"Let us also not put all our eggs into the political parties' basket but in peoples' power. After all we made Bersih 4 happen and it's about our institutional reform agenda," she added.
Maria, along with other civil society leaders who signed the Citizens' Declaration to oust Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, have been criticised for allegedly betraying the trust of their supporters by cooperating with the former premier.
Mahathir had drafted the original document but the final 37-paragraph declaration also incorporated input from civil society and Pakatan Harapan leaders.
"At Bersih 4, we (have) called for an interim government to bring in the reforms and then followed by fresh elections to democratically elect responsible representatives.
"Let's continue with that call," said Maria in urging the people to move forward towards seeking change.
Contacted later, Maria told Malaysiakini that Bersih as the main organiser has yet to finalise details of the planned meetings.
"We have just decided to do it. We will be meeting with other NGOs after this," she said.
Asked whether the meeting would only be held after the March 27 gathering to be organised by former de facto law minister Zaid Ibrahim, Maria said: "We will see. The plan is to start sometime this month."
Zaid had last month proposed the idea to hold the gathering to urge for Najib's resignation.
Mahathir, as well as a long list of Najib's fiercest critics, have since accepted Zaid's invitation to attend the closed-door meeting. -Mkini
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