Yesterday, we learnt the truth about the presence of a force, funding and driving the challenge to take control of the country.
A leaked document, that old favourite when it comes to exposing the wrongdoings of those in power, was uploaded by whistleblower site, DC Leaks.
However, there were no government shenanigans to read about. Instead, the leaked document was the minutes of a meeting that brought into focus how foreign funding had a part to play in the events of the past six years in the country.
At the helm of it is George Soros, who since 2010, through his Open Society Foundations (OSF), had taken a personal interest in the general election that was to take place in Malaysia.
This was after Najib Razak had taken over as Prime Minister from his predecessor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2009.
Expecting Najib to call for an early election in 2011, Soros and the OSF launched the Malaysia Program in 2010.
The leaked minutes seem to highlight that despite the general election eventually taking place in 2013, the early start gave OSF and other related organisations the chance to establish a foothold on Malaysian civil society, especially on election-related work.
What seems to take a sinister turn however, is when OSF stated it had heightened its focus on the Malaysia Program to go beyond mere funding and turning to its network of networks, engaging outside expertise and, not surprisingly, lobbying in Washington DC.
So, instead of just providing support with grants, the Malaysia Program was driven by the OSF towards galvanising public participation and supporting civil society efforts.
There was already a strong movement for change, seeing that the 2008 general election results had finally turned the tide away from the ruling Barisan Nasional and taken away their two-thirds control of Parliament, not to mention the opposition takeover of the two richest states – Selangor and Penang.
Hence, the public did not need much motivation to come out in force at registration drives for new voters, with the obvious hope that the next general election was going to be it, the ultimate change of rule in Malaysia.
It is further telling that no less than the President of Open Society Foundations, Christopher Stone reflected in the minutes on the bigger question of how clear the Malaysia Program had been about its goal for an opposition win in GE13.
The electoral reform agenda seemed very much part of the OSF agenda, as the relaunch of Bersih, a coalition of electoral watchdogs, took place in April 2010 as an entirely civil society movement unaffiliated to any political party.
Bersih’s second rally in 2011, four years after its first one in 2007, seemed to show the hand played by OSF. As the leaked document confirms, “OSF support was particularly impactful for youth participation with hundreds of thousands of youth mobilised.”
Current Bersih Chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah, when confronted about the leaked minutes, refuted that any ties still existed with OSF nor Soros, saying whatever funds received were a one-time grant in 2010-2011, and that it was only RM70,000, “a mere 11 per cent of its income.”
Maria also seemed to suggest that it was an accusation they had dealt with before, and was just being recycled to intimidate Bersih.
But from the document that was leaked of the minutes of a meeting that took place in June last year, it is apparent that it is a continuing effort and not an issue from the past.
Bersih could be just one part of the puzzle that OSF and Soros are using towards a coordinated regime change in the country.
This leaked document also shows the presence of Ibrahim Suffian, the director of Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, at that meeting. It also implicates news portal Malaysiakini over funding for election coverage in 2013.
Notably, Ibrahim has denied being involved in the meeting for which the minutes were taken, saying he was there to make a presentation on voters and left soon after.
In the minutes, the OSF also speaks of preparing for the next general election (GE14).
The agenda remains, as it states in its final point in the minutes, “Malaysia Program needs to build on the election-related work and have a clear focus on working towards the next elections expected to be held by 2018.”
What is interesting, in the events that have transpired over the past year or so, is the possibility of a tie-up between old-enemies-turned-friends, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Soros.
In the late 1990s, former prime minister Mahathir had accused Soros of having caused the Asian financial crisis, but the two reconciled when Soros made his first trip to Malaysia in 2006.
Charles Vincent is an FMT reader.
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