According to Wan Mohammad Ashraf Nasjaruddin, who is a Shah Alam PPBM committee member, the fracas that broke out last Sunday was actually directed at him.
He said it was meant to stop him from posing difficult questions to Mahathir.
“Syed Saddiq said the chairs were thrown at Mahathir,” he said, referring to PPBM Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
“That is false. Actually they were meant for me, one of them even landed right in front of me.”
Wan was speaking to reporters outside the Shah Alam district police headquarters here this afternoon.
He had earlier lodged a police report calling for action to be taken against the forum organisers and the security team.
He claimed they had endangered the safety of the forum attendees, giving the example of a chair which was thrown down from the second floor of the Dewan Raja Muda Musa.
“If the chair had landed on someone’s head, that person would be dead.”
When asked why he thought the disturbance was aimed against him, Wan said this was because he had only a few months earlier lodged a report against Mahathir with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
In the report, he had asked MACC to investigate Mahathir’s family wealth.
“I was disappointed that I didn’t get to pose my questions to Mahathir. I was supposed to do so after Taufik, but someone threw a chair at me instead.”
Wan was referring to former Youth exco member Taufik Abas, who had asked about the Memali incident which saw 14 villagers and four policemen killed in a confrontation between the police and members of an Islamic cult in November 1985 in Kedah, when Mahathir was prime minister.
As Mahathir, who is also Pakatan Harapan chairman, replied amid cheers from the crowd, a water bottle was thrown in his direction.
Security personnel immediately gathered around him as someone from the crowd proceeded to throw a chair, also apparently aimed at the 92-year-old.
A commotion soon broke out, with more objects thrown, including two flares. One of these flares was directed at the stage and the other at the media sitting area.
Meanwhile, Wan called for Syed Saddiq, whose wing had organised the forum, to step down from his Youth chief post.
He said Syed Saddiq, along with Mahathir, had failed to ensure the well-being of PPBM grassroots members.
Syed Saddiq, when contacted, told FMT that if Wan wanted to unseat him, Wan could have someone challenge him in the party election.
“I welcome him. We are a democratic party. But as of now, my focus is only to win the 14th general election, to save my beloved country.”
He also told Wan not to lie about what had happened during the Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum.
“The flares were thrown in Mahathir’s direction. The chairs and slippers, too.
“And Mahathir had answered eight sensitive questions, from the ones involving (jailed opposition leader) Anwar Ibrahim, to the ones concerning his alliance with DAP, and even the Memali incident.
“So why would we want to stop him (Wan) from asking his questions?” Syed Saddiq said.