A Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) Youth member claimed that chairs were thrown at him and not Dr Mahathir Mohamad during Sunday's "Nothing to Hide 2" forum.

According to Mohd Taufik Abas, this happened because he had asked the former premier about the 1985 Memali incident in Kedah.

"I was asking the question when suddenly, chairs flew towards me. If you look at the video of the event, the chairs were far away from Tun (Mahathir), they would not have hurt him.

"And some of the organisers, dressed in Armada (the Bersatu Youth wing) shirts, threw chairs from above (the first level of the hall)," he claimed during a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

This contradicts the opposition's version of events that chairs, flares and slippers were hurled at Mahathir. Pakatan Harapan has blamed Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Umno for orchestrating the incident.

Yesterday, another Bersatu member claimed that the chairs were aimed at him to prevent him from asking tough questions at the forum.

Meanwhile, Taufik pressed for action to be taken against the organisers of the forum for failing to ensure the audience's safety. He has not lodged a police report on the matter and does not intend to do so. 

Status in question

Taufik maintained that he was still an exco member of the Youth wing despite its chief Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman stating that the former had been dropped.

He said he was first appointed in September last year. 

"I am still an exco member because I have yet to receive an official dismissal letter from Armada. Plus, I have not been called by the disciplinary board (by Armada), despite them telling me they would. 

"I found out only after Syed Saddiq tweeted about it. He is so childish and unprofessional," Taufik charged, adding that he would have no qualms stepping down if "properly informed".

When contacted, Syed Saddiq rubbished Taufik's remarks as lies and said he had on numerous occasions, tried to reach out to the latter about the dismissal, but to no avail. 

"He did not pick up the phone or reply to my WhatsApp messages. We (Armada) emailed him the official rombakan (reshuffle) letter in June, and we also distributed the letter to media outlets and published it on social media,” he told Malaysiakini.

The letter listed down the 15 members of the Armada executive committee, which did not include Taufik.

Nevertheless, Syed Saddiq said Taufik remained a member of the party.