Its vice-president, Mohd Amar Nik Abdullah, said all along there had been all kinds of speculation on the incident because of the absence of any transparent investigation.

“We hope that a royal commission of inquiry will help to resolve many issues and get rid of the assumptions and accusations … that is important. Let’s settle it once and for all,” he said.

Amar spoke to reporters after attending a corruption-free pledge along with the Kelantan menteri besar and state executive councillors at the Kota Darul Naim Complex here. The pledge was taken before MACC chief commissioner Dzulkifli Ahmad.

Amar was commenting on what was alleged to be an unsatisfactory reply from former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad at the “Nothing to Hide 2.0” forum organised by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia that erupted into a fracas last Sunday in Shah Alam.

A police operation on Nov 19, 1985, in Kedah to arrest religious teacher Ibrahim Mahmud, better known as Ibrahim Libya, resulted in the killing of 18 people, four of them policemen, in what has come to be known as the Memali tragedy.

Asked about Mahathir’s purportedly unclear stand on the sodomy accusation against Anwar Ibrahim, Amar said Mahathir should make an open apology to Anwar if he had made a false accusation against the former deputy prime minister.