Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s information officer Zaidi Ahmad was slapped by a protester at a rally protesting against the Penang government’s alleged interference in the state’s fatwa (religious edict) issues.

According to the online version of Malay language daily Harian Metro, Zaidi was attacked at the Simpang Enam Mosque in George Town at 2.30pm today.

It reported that the “Peaceful assembly turned chaotic when Zaidi tried to provoke” the chairperson of Jaringan Muslimin Pulau Pinang, Mohamed Hafiz Mohamed Nordin, during his speech.

A fight nearly broke out when several men tried to stop Zaidi, and one of them hit him on his face.

The situation returned to normal when a Special Branch officer intervened, and the rally ended at 2.40pm, Harian Metro reported.

Asked about the incident, Zaidi (photo) was unfazed and said, “It was normal.”

He denied provoking the speaker or the crowd to deserve being attacked by the unknown individual.

“I was there at the mosque, when Hafiz was speaking, and making accusations against the state government interfering in the fatwa issue. So I asked about it,” Zaidi told Malaysiakini.

“I merely asked what fatwas did the state government interfere with and before I knew it, I was attacked,” he added.

“I wanted to ask the speaker the question again, but the rally ended 10 minutes later,” Zaidi said.

Asked if he would be taking any action against his attacker, Zaidi replied “No, he is just a senior citizen.”

In April, the PAS Youth wing threatened to take legal action against the Penang government for allegedly interfering in four fatwas of the State Fatwa Council.

However, Penang mufti Wan Salim Wan Noor dismissed the allegation by PAS Youth and he urged all quarters to be patient and to comply with the fatwa process.

Zaidi was a former Royal Malaysian Air Force pilot, with the rank of Major. He crossed over to the DAP, after first having joined PAS splinter Parti Amanah Negara.

Hailing from Kepala Batas, Zaidi is known best for challenging the Election Commission on the indelible ink issue during the 13th general election in 2013, after which he was sacked from the RMAF by a military court in 2014.