Najib wanted to attend 'Nothing2 Hide' forum, Dewan Rakyat told

KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had wanted to attend the “Nothing2 Hide” forum last Friday but was held back from doing so by the police, a minister told the Dewan Rakyat today.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said this when defending Najib, who has been accused of dodging the event because his fiercest critic Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had decided to show up.

“What happened is not Pekan’s (Najib) fault. Pekan did want to go but the IGP’s orders were for him not to go,” the minister told the House.

“The other day, I was with Dr Mahathir in Kota Kinabalu and I gave him the same answer… and all he did was smile,” he added.

Shahidan was responding to PAS’s Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar during debates on the Eastern Sabah Security Command.

Later, Mahfuz dared the administration to organise another forum where both Dr Mahathir and Najib could face-off but Shahidan said the focus should be on easing the tension between the two men.

Dr Mahathir has been extremely critical of Najib and his administration in recent times, especially over 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the troubled state-owned investment firm that has racked up a debt of over RM42 billion.

Last Friday, Dr Mahathir appeared at the “Nothing To Hide” public dialogue that Najib was supposed to attend to address public queries.

The forum scheduled had been expected to become a face-off between Najib and his chief critic but was cancelled unexpectedly by the police over security concerns.

On Twitter that day, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar explained that the event was called off to preserve “public order”. The Prime Minister’s Office later attributed Najib’s absence at the forum to the police’s advice and instruction over security concerns.

Critics have since condemned the police for disrupting and cancelling the event, saying that the authorities were aiming to silence public discussions on government scandals and literally save Najib from a humiliating confrontation with Dr Mahathir over 1MDB.

Organiser SukaGuam said the police ordered the event cancelled due to the group’s inability to handle the large number of attendees, while the IGP also denied that the cancellation was politically motivated.