(June 12): Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that he attended the "Nothing to Hide" dialogue session between non-governmental organisations (NGO) and Datuk Seri Najib Razak to ask questions and not to debate with the prime minister.

Najib recently said that he cancelled his appearance in the programme, which Dr Mahathir attended, because the format had changed from a dialogue to a debate.

"I went there to ask questions. They said it is a dialogue session. I, too, am an NGO," Dr Mahathir said.

He also sarcastically jibed that it was his "mistake" to have turned up at the dialogue session assuming that he was welcomed.

Dr Mahathir was stopped about 10 minutes into his speech by police officers during the forum.

Najib did not turn up for the dialogue on the account of security concerns expressed by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar. Dr Mahathir previously said that he would be willing to debate Najib over the 1MDB's controversy.

But Najib said that it would not be "proper" for a current prime minister to debate a former prime minister.

Johor crown prince, Tungku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim recently appeared to criticise Najib's absence from the dialogue session with NGOs last week, and Dr Mahathir also weighed in on the matter.

"He should not be making comments about politics," he said.

"But sometimes, when things get irritating, you have to scratch."

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir also said that he wasn't surprised by national laureate A. Samad Said's decision to join DAP.

"His heart has been with DAP for a long time now. Let it be. It's a free country," he said. – The Malaysian Insider