KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 9 — Human rights activists Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan explained today that electoral watchdog Bersih 2.0 is almost fully-funded by the public, amid renewed claim that it is backed by controversial US-based organisation National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

In a forum on civil society here, the former Bersih 2.0 co-chairman said any accusations that the group was foreign-funded plays right into the hands of its critics who are trying to discredit it, and assured the public that it is transparent about its spending and income.

“If the government supports civil society, then there is no need for civil society to go anywhere else to get funds.

“Now, all the money Bersih get is from Malaysian people and nowhere else,” Ambiga told the forum co-organised by the Islamic Renaissance Front (IRF) and the University of Nottingham Malaysia.

Ambiga’s reply came after a member of the audience asked Bersih 2.0 about its alleged funders, NED, which he claimed had used its money to topple other democratically-elected government across the world.

Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa, deputy chairman of Bersih 2.0, then clarified that the group had only received funding from Washington-based group International Republican Institute for projects on redelineation and electoral boundaries.

“Every sen was accounted for … we have nothing to hide; we said precisely what it was used for.

“We were never told what we should say or stand for.

“Are you saying that free and fair elections is an agenda of a foreign country?

“That is ridiculous,” Ambiga added.

Dr Farouk then cited Maina Kai, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, as saying that receiving foreign funding is a right of the civil society.

“As an academic, if I get my research grant, it is not based on the university’s agenda, it is based on my research proposal. It’s the same thing with civil societies. We prepare our proposals and submit them, and based on that, funds will be awarded,” said Dr Farouk, who also heads the NED-funded IRF.

Both Ambiga and Dr Farouk however did not provide more data to back their assertions that Bersih 2.0 is funded mostly by donations from the public.

The debate over political funding was reignited after Malaysia’s graftbusters declared that that the RM2.6 billion deposited in Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s accounts was not from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) as previously alleged, but political donations from an unnamed source from the Middle East.