Former premier Najib Abdul Razak has demanded a government inquiry into the relationship between Pakatan Harapan and the Washingon-based International Republican Institute (IRI).
According to him, the cooperation between IRI and Harapan is much worse than the letter penned to the CIA, which led certain quarters to accuse his administration of treason.
"If you accuse (former head of the Malaysian External Intelligence Organisation) Hasanah (Ab Hamid) of treason, this is a lot worse because this is direct interference in our electoral process.
"The Americans even appointed a special prosecutor to investigate if there was Russian interference in their election.
"Now, there is an open admission that they (IRI) had been working since 2002 to change the government (in Malaysia)," he told reporters in Parliament.
Earlier today, IRI refuted claims that it had worked with the opposition prior to the May 9 general election to topple BN.
IRI also pointed out that it worked with BN as well.
IRI president Daniel Twining had told a forum in Washington on July 11 that his group has been working to “strengthen” opposition parties in Malaysia, but did not provide details.
Twining also claimed he met senior Harapan officials after the fall of the BN government in the “Prime Minister's Office”.
Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said contacts with a think tank is different from having direct contacts with the CIA or political parties such as the Communist Party of China.
"Open communication should always be encouraged to promote understanding based on clear principles. However, having direct contacts with the CIA explicitly seeking aid for foreign intervention to sabotage the people's mandate in the recent general elections, is not only untenable and unacceptable but a betrayal of our country's sovereignty," he said in a statement today.
Lim said the DAP has no contacts with the US Republican Party but added that it had attended training courses by the think tank International Republican Institute (IRI).
"DAP has no contacts with the US Republican Party, or to US President Donald Trump, as has been correctly reported.
"However I did not hear the journalist's question clearly on IRI and was under the impression that the Republican party and IRI is one and the same.
"Whilst I have not attended training courses with IRI, I have been informed that IRI has conducted some training courses for DAP members on technical issues under the auspices of understanding democratic processes related to polling and communications.
"IRI has also stated publicly that such courses have been conducted for both BN and Harapan component parties," he said.
-Mkini
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