DAP leaders Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng have urged police to go after the mastermind behind the ruckus at the Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum in Shah Alam yesterday.

Kit Siang said he felt sorry for the youths who were made “tools” in the incident, where shoes and water bottles were thrown – some aimed at former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad - while flares were lit and chairs thrashed about in the hall.

“The mastermind must face action as well,” the Gelang Patah MP said in Penang today.

His son, Guan Eng, who is DAP secretary-general, also called on the authorities to investigate the incident, and more importantly, to find the mastermind who had planned the ruckus.

The Penang chief minister said Pakatan Harapan (PH) would not bow just because some quarters were using violence.

Both father and son were at the forum but they left early, just before the violence erupted.

Kit Siang, who is DAP’s parliamentary opposition leader, said the violence showed that Umno and Prime Minister Najib Razak were in panic mode because they might lose the 14th general election.

“Compared with the last general election, PH only needs 10% more Malay votes and 5% more Chinese and Indian votes to win. That is why they are panicking,” he said.

Other PH leaders have condemned the violence, with PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim warning of more violence ahead of GE14.

Some Barisan National leaders, however, have also condemned the use of violence, such as Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin and Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak.

Wanita MCA chairman Heng Seai Kie also condemned the violence, saying that such actions “must be chastised corrected and kept in check immediately”.

“Not doing so will only breed further hatred and division in our society,” she said in a statement.

She said although the MCA Women’s wing opposed Dr Mahathir’s continuous attacks on the federal government, his critical stance did not justify the use of violence at the forum.

“The police and Attorney-General Chambers must not leave any stone unturned in investigating, arresting and charging the perpetrators who are ugly Malaysians for having marred the stability of the nation.” – August 14, 2017.