PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan should explain its dependence on funding from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), says Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) adviser Kua Kia Soong.

       “It is up to Pakatan Harapan to explain their dependence on NED funding if they can,” he said in a statement on Facebook yesterday.

       Daniel Twining, the president of the International Republican Institute (IRI) revealed three years ago that they – through NED – had been funding the Opposition in Malaysia since 2002.

       NED is a non-governmental organisation in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by developing political groups, trade unions, deregulated markets and business associations.

       Twining allegedly told a forum in 2018 that the IRI, with funds from the NED, had worked to strengthen Malaysian opposition parties and its efforts paid off when Pakatan Harapan won the 14th General Election.

       Kua also urged all NGOs in the country to stop accepting funds from NED to remain credible.

       Kua said Suaram used to receive funding from the NED until the organisation was exposed as a CIA “soft power” front for the US government several years ago.

       “Knowing the blood-drenched ‘regime changing’ record of the CIA in so many third world countries since 1947, we could not continue receiving funds from such a dubious source for our own credibility.”