Attendees walk out of the ‘Nothing to hide 2.0’ forum organised by Jaringan Melayu Malaysia after discovering that Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will not be attending the event held in Kelab Darul Ehsan, Ampang July 3, 2016. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng

AMPANG, July 3 — Furious attendees staged a walkout at a forum organised by Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) after learning that its purported main guest — Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin — was never officially invited.

Just before the start of the forum at 3.30pm, the organisers claimed that Muhyiddin was en route to the venue, Kelab Darul Ehsan, here in Ampang.

An estimated 200 or so attendees waited as a JMM spokesperson explained the purpose of forum — titled “Nothing to hide 2.0” after a similarly abortive forum a year ago — which supposedly to give the former Umno deputy president a platform to speak out on current political issues.

At about 3.45pm, the host for the event announced the arrival of JMM president Azwanddin Hamzah.

Azwanddin then took the stage and claimed that Muhyiddin had agreed to attend the event during a supposed “secret meeting” last month, but decided to not show up at the last minute.

“If there was no agreement from Muhyiddin, it would have been impossible for this programme to be held.

“Why would we go through all the trouble to orchestrate this if it were not true? Booking the hall, getting banners done,” Azwanddin insisted.

What was supposed to be an event featuring Muhyiddin then turned into a no-holds-barred platform to attack the former deputy prime minister.

“Since Muhyiddin broke his promise to attend, I will disclose some documents which sheds some light on his moral conduct,” the JMM chief said before proceeding to hand out some court documents to those who were present.

When it became clear to attendees that Muhyiddin was not attending, most of them left the hall angrily, shouting at JMM and calling them “liars.”

“I live here and I came with my friends under the impression that Muhyiddin would be speaking. At least that was I was led to believe from the banners.

“It’s clear these people lied to us and dragged us here for nothing! Liars!” an elderly Chinese man told reporters outside the hall before leaving the event.

Shortly after that, JMM announced that the event had ended. Around 20 people, mostly clad in JMM T-shirts, remained in the hall at this time.

When contacted, Muhyiddin’s office told Malay Mail Online that he never intended to attend the event and did not receive an official invitation either.

“There is no such event whatsoever,” a spokesperson for Muhyiddin said.