Screenshot of Kbab's tweet.KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 — Inspector-general of police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar this morning issued an order for a highly-anticipated dialogue with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to be scrapped, on grounds of “public order” as news went round that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was planning to turn up.
Khalid issued the order on microblogging site Twitter, barely an hour before the event’s scheduled start at 10am.
“Dialog 1MDB bersama NGO2. Demi ketenteraman awam dan keharmonian masy, @PDRMsia mengarahkan Dialog diatas, di PWTC (Putra World Trade Centre), Kl pagi ini dibatalkan,” he wrote using his Twitter handle @KBAB51 this morning.
(Translation: 1MDB Dialogue together with NGOs. For the sake of public peace and harmony in the community, @PDRMsia orders the Dialogue above, at PWTC, KL this morning to be cancelled.)
The “Nothing2Hide” forum’s organiser yesterday confirmed that Najib will attend the event scheduled to be held at the PWTC at 10am.
The dialogue session which is organised and moderated by the Malaysian Volunteer Lawyers Association would see over 1,500 participants from NGOs and civil society groups directing questions at Najib on his administration and leadership.
When approached by Malay Mail Online this morning, PWTC management staff declined to comment, claiming not to have knowledge as they are not the event organiser.
Malay Mail Online understands that Dr Mahathir is currently in the PWTC’s VIP room and police officers are believed to be talking to him, while his supporters are waiting outside the room.
Yesterday, a longtime aide to the retired prime minister, Sufi Yusuff, said Dr Mahathir may attend the event in which Najib has been invited to explain the current controversy surrounding his brainchild - state-owned investment firm 1MDB which has reportedly chalked up RM42 billion in debts.
“Tun is considering attending. The organiser has extended an open invitation as we understand it to Tun,” Sufi told Malay Mail Online.
He was non-committal when asked if Dr Mahathir would pose his questions to Najib directly at the event tomorrow, saying: “We will see how it goes. From what we understand, it is supposed to be a dialogue session where participants are allowed to ask questions”.
Dr Mahathir has been one of Najib’s harshest critics over several issues in recent months, including 1MDB and the current administration’s Bantuan 1Malaysia cash hand-out policies to the low-income group.
If the event were to go on, Najib and Dr Mahathir could likely be facing off each other publicly on 1MDB for the first time since the latter started his criticism.
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