Dr Mahathir Mohamad was not invited to the scheduled dialogue between the prime minister and NGOs in the capital today, said the event organiser.

"He knew he was not invited. He knew. But he was told (by others) that he needs to come to be given a chance to speak and meet the public," said chief organiser Khairul Anwar Rahmat ( photo ).

Khairul also suggested that Mahathir may have turned up because the event was widely publicised through social media.

He added that he had told the press earlier that if Mahathir was representing an NGO, he would be free to join the event.

This contradicts what Khairul told the press three days ago, where he described the event as an "open forum" and that he would invite Mahathir personally.

In terms of NGO work, Mahathir is best known as the honarary president of the Perdana Leadership Foundation.

Khairul was speaking to reporters after the event - titled "Nothing to hide" - was cancelled, on orders of the police.

Last night, word started spreading that Mahathir would attend the function in PWTC, which was supposed to be exclusively for NGOs to pose questions to Najib.

Mahathir arrived at the venue 8.50am and was immediately ushered into the VIP holding room.

After organisers confirmed that at about 10.15am that Najib was a no-show, Mahathir walked into the Dewan Tun Hussein Hall and was greeted with cheers.

Organisers then announced that as a consolation, Mahathir would be allowed to address the crowd.

Mahathir immediately launched fresh attacks against Najib, claiming that the Terengganu palace was against the premier's plans for 1MDB's predecessor - Terengganu Investment Authority.

After merely 8-minutes into his speech, a policeman approached Mahathir and stopped him from speaking. He was then escorted from the venue.