PUTRAJAYA • The Citizens' Declaration opposing Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has met its target of gathering one million verified signatures in just two months, former premier Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

He said the verified online signatures as of Thursday noon were 1,071,997, with more than 200,000 more unique verified signatures on paper.

Speaking at the Perdana Leadership Foundation building, he said the movement had met its initial target in just two months, even though it had given itself a year-end deadline.

Tun Dr Mahathir said that it was a requirement for each signature, whether online or on paper, to be accompanied by a valid MyKad number, adding that 253,505 submissions were rejected for being incomplete, duplicated, or having a MyKad number that did not match the name.

"These people who signed our declaration, they signed fully knowing that they are committed because they included their IC number.

"This is a serious effort to tell the country, people, government and rulers that the citizens of this country want to get rid of this prime minister," he said.

Dr Mahathir added that he would seek an audience with the Yang di-Pertuan Agong now that the movement had achieved its target of a million signatures.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK