Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today issued a public appeal for the rakyat to support the Citizens' Declaration in the hope of triggering a Malayan Union-style revolt.

"I appeal to the rakyat, regardless of race or party, to sign the Citizens' Declaration to save our country Malaysia.

"The more people supporting the Citizens' Declaration, the likelier it is for the goal of ending Najib Abdul Razak's position as prime minister to be achieved," he said in a blog posting this evening.

Mahathir reiterated that the Citizens' Declaration, which called for Najib's resignation and institutional reforms, is to ultimately lobby the conference of rulers to intervene just as the Malays had done in 1946.

"Only the rakyat who love the country can act. Indeed, there is no provision in the federal constitution for the rakyat to act (to remove Najib).

"But based on the historical struggle against the Malayan Union, the rakyat's demand for the Malay rulers to reject the Malayan Union succeeded.

"We can believe that the rakyat's demands this time will get similar treatment," he said.

The widespread protest against Malayan Union prompted the Malay rulers to boycott the declaration of the new union and also led to the eventual formation of Umno in 1946.

The British colonial masters eventually gave in to pressure and replaced the Malayan Union with the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

Mahathir, who was among the first 45 eminent persons to sign the Citizens' Declaration , reiterated that he did so as all avenues for redress had been blocked by Najib.

"What is clear, there is no more hope or opportunity for Umno members to change the leadership or put to stop to Najib's wrongdoing.

"Newspapers and television are not allowed to report about Najib's wrongdoing," he said.

Instead, Mahathir said the rakyat was fed with "false news" denying all allegations about abuse of power in scandals relating to 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion in Najib's personal bank accounts.

Najib's alleged lavish lifestyle

Mahathir also cited declining government finances as well as the lost of billions and Najib's alleged lavish lifestyle as among other news being blacked out by the media.

Najib had claimed the billions in his personal bank accounts was a political donation from Saudi Arabia and denied it had anything to do with 1MDB.

He also denied taking public funds for personal gain while attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali accepted this explanation in clearing Najib of wrongdoing.

Mahathir also lamented Umno's inability to put a stop to Najib.

"Umno MPs keep silent and approve any legislations presented to them.

"A vote of no-confidence cannot be initiated because Umno MPs lack courage and will not give support despite knowing about the scandals," he said.

Mahathir lamented that Umno members do no appear to care about the country's problem.

As such, he said, it was up to Malaysians who love the country to take action.