KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 — Pahang Umno Youth chief Mohd Shahar Abdullah criticised Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today for allying with groups funded by the man the former prime minister once accused of trying to take over Malaysia.

Mohd Shahar pointed out the irony in the country’s former leader who is now seeking to topple the current Barisan Nasional (BN) administration with the cooperation of civil groups who have accepted money from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF).

“The funds from the Open Society Foundations (OSF) received by a few parties, including pro-Opposition portal Malaysiakini, the Bar Council, Bersih and other organisations, is a symbol of their betrayal to their motherland,” he said in a statement.

He further pointed out that it was Dr Mahathir who said in 2012 — before his resignation from office — that Soros had channelled funds into civil societies like Suaram with the aim of ousting the democratically-elected government and install Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as prime minister.

“Ironically, Tun M is now ‘fighting’ with these ‘traitors’ on the same political platform to topple the existing government claiming lack of freedom and oppression, which are ideologies invented by Soros to control the country,” he added.

Mohd Shahar also chided the Malaysian Bar for accepting funds from OSF, even as he admitted that the US-based grant network and its founder are not on the government’s banned list.

“Do they think that OSF would not expect any favours in return, if the Opposition truly took over the government thanks to the funding received?” he asked.

He cautioned Malaysians not to fall for the criticisms against the government by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0, the Malaysian Bar and critical news reports by online news outlet Malaysiakini, claiming they are on OSF’s payroll.

The Bar Council, Bersih 2.0 and Malaysiakini have since refuted allegations to being agents of foreign funders to topple the BN government, saying the grants received were one-off financial aid for their independent research work.

OSF too has denied the allegations levelled against it.