KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 — Organiser of the infamous ‘Nothing2Hide’ forum, Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat, has announced that he will be quitting all his Umno posts.
News portal Malaysiakini reported the Malaysian Volunteer Lawyers Association (SukaGuam) president as saying that he would be resigning from his positions as Kluang Umno Youth Chief and Johor Umno Youth vice-chief effective July 15.
“I made my decision after receiving blessings from my parents and after extensive discussion with family members,” Khairul was quoted saying today, without giving any reasons.
The “Nothing2Hide” forum was expected to become a face-off between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his predecessor Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been pushing openly for Najib’s resignation, but it was cancelled unexpectedly.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar ordered the event to be called off to preserve “public order”, and 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 the controversy surrounding the debt-laden 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), which Dr Mahathir has repeatedly questioned.
Organiser SukaGuam said the police ordered the event cancelled due to the group’s inability to handle the large number of attendees, while the police chief denied that the cancellation was politically motivated.
