Mahfuz was speaking at the People’s Congress of the Save Malaysia movement to oust Najib Razak.

He told the 1,000-strong crowd “I was once detained under ISA under the orders of Mahathir”, pointing to former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was seated on stage with suspended Umno president Muhyiddin Yassin.

“But that was before. We have a bigger crisis now,” he said to applause.

The country would be destroyed if nothing was done to oust Najib. “We are not here to save any political party. We are here to save the Malaysia that we love,” he said.

Malaysians had reached a juncture where all political ideologies must be put aside. “We should only have one ideology. That is to have Najib step down.”

The next general elections is expected next year or the year after.

Maria Chin Abdullah, head of the Bersih electoral reform movement, reiterated the movement’s call to seek reform of government institutions.

“We cannot change the ruler but the rule so that there is no misuse of power in the government. I was one of the half a million to participate in Bersih 4 seeking for reforms. If the institutions are not reformed, we will be here again in five years seeking to oust the prime minister,” she said in her speech.