Leaked emails, George Soros and rigged election claims: Malaysia gives U.S. a run for its money

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Malaysian Muslims pray during the protest rally by electoral concern group Bersih last year. The release of the emails comes ahead of another rally planned by the group this month. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:30pm, 3 Nov 2016Updated: 10:30pm, 6 Jul 2017

After weathering brutal attacks on its supporters, Malaysia’s biggest civil society group, Bersih, has been hit by a scandal that threatens to derail its plans for another mammoth rally in the nation’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, on November 19.

In an exposé not unlike the one provoking a storm in the US presidential election campaign, a tranche of hacked emails claimed that Bersih had received money from a foreign foundation helmed by controversial billionaire-philanthropist George Soros.

Local news reports claimed Soros’s Open Society Foundations (OSF) was also attempting to influence the country’s next election in 2018 through programmes such as voter mobilisation drives.

The street protest held by Bersih in Kuala Lumpur last year. The release of the emails comes ahead of another rally planned by the group this month. Photo: AFP

In the Malaysian public’s imagination, Soros was behind the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, which erased much of the wealth the country had built up after a heady period of growth in the mid-90s.

“Soros is famous for his role in the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Knowing his background, we can conclude he is not one who comes with good intentions,” said Wee Ka Siong, a government cabinet minister.