PETALING JAYA, April 14 — The 1998 Reformasi movement and the current #KitaLawan rally series are very similar as they share the same objectives, although the latter movement may not have as large a following as the former used to, PKR Youth said tonight.

PKR Youth chief strategist Akmal Nasir said although the Reformasi protests used to see tens of thousands of protesters thronging Dataran Merdeka while #KitaLawan events have only drawn about 1,000 demonstrators each time, the two share the same goal to reform Malaysia.

“Reformasi people protested for many reasons... They were angry, shocked, now everyone is just waiting for a group to start such a movement and they are ready to assemble.

“Same as Reformasi, (#KitaLawan) is the spirit for reform,” Akmal told a forum titled ‘Black 14 Forum: from Reformasi to #KitaLawan.’

He added that the police crackdown directly resulting from both protests also shared similarities.

“Before the way to crackdown, they catch 10 demonstrators and keep them, definitely a problem. Now they catch 30 people, also the same,” he added, alluding to the increased frequency of arrests with today’s protests.

Over a dozen people have been arrested at various times last week in connection to the #KitaLawan rallies that kicked off in February following the jailing of federal opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Several others including lawmakers, lawyers, and activists are under sedition investigations allegedly for remarks critical of authority figures over Anwar’s jailing and against the federal government.

Earlier today, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said that #KitaLawan and Reformasi had nothing in common due to the drastic difference in the number of supporters between the two movements.

Khairy said this as he was reaffirming his backing of prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, which he said was only right for him to do so as he had done the same in 1998  when Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was in power.