Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak decided not to attend a scheduled dialogue with NGOs today on instructions of the police.

According to a Facebook post by the Prime Minister's Office, the instruction came directly from the inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.

"The PMO was informed by the organisers of the 'PM's dialogue with NGOs'... has been postponed on instructions from the IGP.

"This was due to the venue's safety considerations.

"In view of the instruction and advice from the IGP, the prime minister was unable to attend this function," said the PMO.

KENYATAAN MEDIA PEJABAT PERDANA MENTERIPejabat Perdana Menteri dimaklumkan oleh pihak pengajur bahawa Program "Dialog...

Posted by PMO Malaysia on Thursday, 4 June 2015

The event was supposed to have kicked off at 10am, but Khalid had tweeted at about 8.53am that the event must be cancelled due to security reasons.

Organised by SukaGuam, the event titled "Nothing to Hide" was held at the Dewan Tun Hussein Onn, PWTC which also houses Umno's headquarters.

SukaGuam has billed the event as a no-holds barred dialogue between NGOs and the premier.

By 10am, some 1,800 people had crammed into the hall to hear Najib speak. They were left disappointed when organisers announced moments later that the event has been cancelled.

Following this, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad emerged from the VIP holding room and entered the hall, where he was met with applauses.

Upon urging of the crowd, Mahathir took the stage and spoke briefly before the police ordered him to stop.