(June 5): Datuk Seri Najib Razak's no-show at a forum on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) means that he lost an opportunity to state his case and garner more support for himself, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The statesman said he had attended the “Nothing To Hide” forum at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) this morning to listen to the prime minister's explanation.

"He lost an opportunity to win over support for himself, to explain everything... that no money is missing, what Arul said is true," he said in referring to 1MDB's president Arul Kanda Kandasamy.

"He had that opportunity but he missed that opportunity," Dr Mahathir told reporters minutes after he was barred by police from speaking at the event.

Najib did not show up at the highly anticipated forum which would have featured both Dr Mahathir and the prime minister addressing the same issue at a same venue for the first time.

This followed a directive from Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar issued through his Twitter account that the dialogue should be called off on the grounds of "public order and national harmony".

Dr Mahathir was also barred from speaking at the forum by the police about 10 minutes into his speech, causing an uproar among the attendees.

Asked about Najib's absence, Dr Mahathir, in his usual acerbic style quipped, he was just an ordinary man.

"I can't do anything to anybody, I don't carry arms, why should people be afraid of me?"

He then went on to speculate that Najib could be busy with work.

"I think he's busy, he must be busy I think, must be some other official work that is more important than meeting the people."

Dr Mahathir, Malaysia's longest serving prime minister, said he had come to today's event hoping to listen to Najib's explanation.

"I had hope his explanation is so good that I will continue to support him but since he didn't come and explain I cannot support him," he said sarcastically.

Despite being stopped by the police minutes into his speech, Dr Mahathir retained his humour, jokingly saying it was because the media were making too much noise.

On a more serious note, he said he heeded the police's advice because he was an "obedient" citizen.

"The police came up to me when I was talking and told me to stop. So I stopped, I am a very obedient citizen," Dr Mahathir added. – The Malaysian Insider