Things have become complicated for PM Najib and his administration because of the reluctance to be entirely forward on the twin issues of 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion donation. If this approach was meant to quell talk, then it has failed to do so. The refusal to be above board concerning the the investigations and findings only feeds into suspicions that there is much to filter and hide. It has the effect of drawing an even bigger crowd of curious onlookers.

In an increasingly transparent world, it just makes sense to be open and frank. Being an open book and going with the flow would require considerably less effort than dodging uncomfortable questions from the media. Citing the OSA or the Sedition Act doesn’t make the questions evaporate. It merely chucks them into an ever growing pile of unanswered queries. Think unsettled parking tickets and bills and imagine the day of reckoning catching up with you.

In leading the Save Malaysia campaign, former PM Mahathir Mohamad has pinned a bullseye on himself. His cooperation with civil society and opposition notables only makes him that much easier a mark for our law enforcers, who are not known for their political neutrality. Still, the Tun and the others in the group must know the score and the risks.

It is hard to see how things will get easier for the PM and his administration in the weeks and days ahead without a clamping down on dissent and dissenters.

The Citizens’ Declaration and the speeches delivered at the March 27 People’s Congress make clear that the dissenters are not claiming to be anything other than concerned citizens who have had enough. They sound very much like people who are angry and disappointed that the driver of our democracy has driven into a big ditch with all of us on board and is unable to back out of it without getting the passengers out to push.

The declaration puts down on paper a reading – or a best guess – of what the public may feel about the rampant corruption that has crept into government and the power abuses that have made it all possible. No one doubts that there indeed have been abuses and corruption. However, the perception of how bad things have become is relative, of course.

If public institutions that are meant to be neutral have been meddled with or co-opted into the fray, then naturally any investigation undertaken would be perceived as a fix. What a terrible crisis we must be facing if the role of neutral referee has fallen to the rakyat. We have no history of holding referendums, and it isn’t likely that one will be allowed any time soon.

The Citizens’ Declaration feels a lot like the petitions demanding Israel to stop brutalising the innocents of Palestine. Do we care if it is the US, Russia or the UN that censures and stops Israel? Do we hear the victims objecting to a ceasefire or an Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip because it is brokered by Russia and the US? I don’t think the shell-shocked refugees care so long as the bullets stop flying and the food and medicines are let through.

Any citizens’ declaration should speak for the rakyat. We can argue about whether or not the Save Malaysia campaign has an accurate reading of the nation’s pulse, but the pull of the words is unmistakeable.

Malaysia was birthed as a constitutional monarchy with a parliament. The Federal Constitution is our rule book. Is anything like the Citizens’ Declaration expressly allowed or disallowed by the constitution? If neither, then it must fall within the realm of democratic rights. We hope no one will say that democracy is only about voting.

Voting is just the system rebooting democracy every few years. Real democracy is how we administer and live for the other 1,824 days until the next reboot. The administrators of the nation are the servants and the rakyat are the master.

A system picks up viruses that can corrupt your files. Frequent updates are required to keep the system in shape. When we switch off the computer, the system updates itself and a reboot is needed to launch the updates. Five years is a long time between updates and reboots. Maybe it should be shorter.

In the immortal words of reggae legend Bob Marley, if you are the big tree, we are the small axe, ready to cut you down, well sharp to cut you down.

And having said what we are and described the system we have, how does the rakyat take control? Through the system of democracy, of course.