Marina questioned what sort of security threat Najib faced. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 — Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir today mocked the reason given by police to cancel a highly-anticipated dialogue with Datuk Seri Najib Razak on 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) this morning, asking if hecklers are a threat to the prime minister.

Posting on Twitter, Marina questioned what sort of “security threat” Najib faced to the point that Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had to issue the cancel order barely an hour before the event was scheduled to start at 10am.

“Well well well....if @KBAB51 can’t handle security for an event with @NajibRazak, what good is he?” Marina wrote, referring to the IGP by his Twitter handle.

“And what sort of security threat was it? People booing? But that has happened before, no? @KBAB51,” she said in another tweet.

The dialogue was expected to end up becoming a face-off between Najib and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who has been the prime minister’s harshest critic over the handling of 1MDB and other issues related to the former’s administration.

With Najib being a no-show, Dr Mahathir had gone up to the stage to address the assembled crowd but was stopped by police.

Responding to tweets by news reports claiming that the the event was called off in the interest of safety of both men, Marina said: “Oh really? Crowd unsafe for Najib. Cops unsafe for Tun M?”

Local English daily New Starts Times earlier posted on their Twitter handle: “The #Nothing2Hide dialogue with PM was called off as police was concerned about PM Najib’s & Tun M’s safety: Organiser SukaGuam #nst170”

Meanwhile, PKR’s N Surendran accused the IGP for acting “unlawfully” and stated that the police have “no duty, right or power” under the Police Act 1967 to regulate public discourses in the case when they prevented Dr Mahathir from continuing his speech.

Dr Mahathir has been one of Najib’s harshest critics over several issues in recent months, including 1MDB and the current administration’s Bantuan 1Malaysia cash hand-out policies to the low-income group.

If the event were to go on, Najib and Dr Mahathir could likely be facing off each other publicly on 1MDB for the first time since the latter started his criticism.