(June 2): Non-governmental organisation SukaGuam is giving Datuk Seri Najib Razak a platform this Friday to answer questions from other NGOs and civil society groups, including on debt-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Malaysiakini reported.

SukaGuam chairman Khairul Anwar Rahmat at a press conference today was quoted as saying that Najib had confirmed his attendance at the two-hour session titled "Nothing to hide" at the Putra World Trade Centre on Friday.

Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also been invited, although it is not clear if he will attend.

"We want this dialogue to be an effective platform as SukaGuam is a law-based NGO.

“In court, there are submissions and the other party is always given the chance to counter the arguments," Khairul was reported saying.

He added that NGOs should be given the chance to quiz Najib as they had legitimate questions, so that politicians did not dominate discussions on national issues.

"Before this, we have seen that national issues are only discussed by politicians. We could see that the NGOs are divided by their speciality and expertise. They could ask more honest and insightful questions," he said.

Najib has been on a tour to some states – Perlis, Johor, Sabah and his home ground of Pekan, so far – as part of a nationwide tour to rebut criticism against his administration and his handling of 1MDB.

His chief critic has come from within his party Umno in the form of Dr Mahathir, whose attacks and calls for Najib’s resignation have rattled the party.

Criticism has been mounting over 1MDB, the Finance Ministry wholly owned investment vehicle, which has accumulated RM42 billion debts.

The auditor-general is currently going through 1MDB's books, with a preliminary report expected to be submitted to Parliament in June, while Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) started its investigation into the company two weeks ago.

Utusan Malaysia reported yesterday that Najib had issued an ultimatum to his Cabinet, telling ministers to resign if they did not support him over the rehabilitation of the state fund. – The Malaysian Insider