#Nothing2Hide: 'NGOs may have filled in Tun M's name in blank invitation card' - organiser

Malaysian Volunteer Lawyers Association (SukaGuam) chairman Datuk Khairul Anwar Rahmat was responding to a series of images of the alleged invitation card -- addressed to former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad - which had gone viral on social media since Friday.

“We sent empty cards to the NGOs so that they could fill in the names of patrons or representatives to attend. I presumed Tun Mahathir was the the patron of some of the NGOs, so they took the initiative to write his name in one of the blank invitation cards," said Khairul Anwar to Astro AWANI.

Khairul Anwar said it was a non-issue if Tun Mahathir was there to represent some of the organisations.

When prodded on who granted Tun Mahathir to speak at the event, Khairul Anwar said it meant to control the chaos which had sparked in the hall.

“If we barred him from speaking, tensions among the attendees would mount. Furthermore, he (Tun Mahathir) was already in the hall.

“At this juncture, the police stepped in. It ended without any untoward incidents and Tun Mahathir adhered to the police,” he said.

On Friday, the #Nothing2Hide dialogue between the PM and NGOs was cancelled at the 11th hour by the police.

Citing security reasons, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar announced the cancellation via his Twitter merely minutes before the event was scheduled to kick off at 9am, Friday.

Khairul Anwar opined, if the public dialogue was a failure, Najib and Tun Mahathir must still meet at some point to iron out issues -- and this can even be done behind closed doors.

READ: #Nothing2Hide: Organiser blames PM's senior officer for event failure READ: #Nothing2Hide: Najib missed the golden opportunity - Tun M

Khairul Anwar, earlier was reported saying that a new date to organise the event will be announced soon.