COMMENT While Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has claimed to have thousands supporting him during his roadshow in Sarawak recently, his absence at the  'Nothing to Hide' event in Kuala Lumpur on Friday at Umno headquarters has raised questions.

 

Has our PM suddenly turned yellow in facing his would-be nemesis Dr Mahathir Mohamad? Has his joint dreaming with his wife Rosmah Mansor upon his return from Sarawak turned into a nightmare?

 

What has happened to our `Bugis' warrior blood PM for Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar to call off the meeting? What would his highly-paid spin doctors and public relations consultants come up with this time for damage control or excuses?

 

Was the security threat so great that the police and its army of special action squad personnel couldn't handle it?

 

Word got out that Mahathir was scheduled to attend the event a day before. But the organisers claimed the octogenarian was not invited to the event clearly contradicting their earlier statement that they will personally invite the former premier.

Hours before the event at PWTC was scheduled to be held, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar came out to tweet that the event's cancellation was due to security reasons.

 

Just what was the security reason was he didn't state except to say troublemakers were out to disrupt the dialogue. However, was it really a security reason or merely to protect the 61 year-old Najib from meeting the 90-year-old Mahathir?

 

All gov't instruments used  

A statement issued by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) aka the PM's spin doctors blamed IGP Khalid for their boss' no-show.

 

It seems to me that all instruments of the government were used to protect our 'brave' Najib even to the extent of preventing Mahathir from speaking. It is certainly a sad sight to see a former premier who led the country for 22 years' being stopped by the police 10 minutes into his speech.

 

Najib had an opportunity to clear the air as to the reasons of his absence  at this  'Nothing to Hide' forum but he chose to remain silent when asked by reporters.

 

Later the PM's spinmeisters posted on his website that he had no qualms of meeting NGOs for dialogues but they had to be done in a calm manner and there should be sincerity and openness.

 

It was only a day before that Najib was on a high following a show of apparently overwhelming support for him in Sarawak.

 

Najib then even said not to underestimate him and that the blood of warriors coursed through his veins ending this war cry with assurances that the he would not step down.

 

A day after the Sarawak event however, the PM became a national laughing stock with the dialogue debacle. No PR consultant and or spin-master can now save the politically ailing PM's battered reputation.

 

In the next three days' Malaysians may not hear from Najib following a sudden official visit to Saudi Arabia following the fiasco. However, will he come clean after that answer all questions directly even those from his staunchest critic  namely Mahathir?

 

Come clean, Najib  

One thing that we know about Mahathir (and Najib should also know this) is that when chairing a cabinet meeting, the former premier would always ask around  for better solutions to the problem being discussed.

 

Under Mahathir, if one was not able to provide ample reasoning for his or her solution or back it up with facts and figures, then they may as well keep quiet.

 

Hence, it appears to me that what has been peddled by Najib's with regards to his pet project 1MDB has just not been satisfactory enough to the former premier's expectations nor everyone else's.

 

When Mahathir came out with a blog posting on April 2 containing a scathing attack on Najib over the 1MDB scandal, many Umno leaders including party secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor had mooted for a private meeting between the two.

 

However, during the former premier's German-Malaysian Institute function at the end of April, when asked by reporters whether anyone had approached him to meet Najib, Mahathir replied “no” .

 

Following yesterday's episode, I believe Mahathir has not yet met Najib face-to-face.

 

If everything is above board Mr PM, then you should not be afraid to meet your detractors and answer them head on.

 

Wriggling way out  

Najib should not hide behind pre-recorded interviews, behind his blog postings or  behind his statements to avoid being accountable to the people. Just answer the key questions especially on the 1MDB issue and its audit done by Deloitte.

 

Come clean on the matter, if there is 'nothing to hide'. Do not rely on your highly-paid  PR consultants (at the taxpayers' expense) to wriggle your way out.

 

Do you, Mr PM, remember the statement which you issued to the New York Times on your purported wealth which you claimed was inherited from your late father, the nation's second prime minister, the late Abdul Razak Hussein?

 

This was denied by your own blood brothers - Nazir, Johari, Nizam and Nazim!  Even to this, Mr PM, you failed to answer satisfactorily.

 

One can only hope – and pray – that you honour the oath you took to be prime minister and will not shirk the responsibility to explain and be accountable to the rakyat. This comes with the office.

 

HAFIZ YATIM is a member of the Malaysiakini team.