‘Reformasi, ‘Bersih’, ‘Arab Spring’ led by foreign forces, says UUM lecturer
(The Malaysian Insider) – Both the “Reformasi” and “Bersih” movements, which had thousands of Malaysians take to the streets to rally against the establishment, were masterminded by foreign forces determined to topple the government with violence, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer Muhammad Afifi Abdul Razak has claimed.
Writing in a commentary in Utusan Malaysia today, the political science professor insisted this was not merely a “conspiracy theory”, and likened both movements to the “Arab Spring” in the Middle East.
He warned that such uprisings could lead to internal strife, where countries would be at war with themselves instead of among one another.
“Instead, wars would involve clashes between the country’s armed forces, who are loyal to the government, and their own people who rise to oppose what they believe is cruelty by the same government or regime,” he wrote.
Little known Muhammad Afifi said such violent clashes were actually led by “certain foreign-based forces” who would never tire of offering aid to the locals to topple their own governments.
“The clearest example is the ‘Arab Spring’ scenario… as well as the ‘Reformasi’ and ‘Bersih’ movements in Malaysia,” he said.
“All these scenarios were clearly planned by outside parties who wanted to use the opportunities to topple a government with violence.”
It has often been alleged that both the federal opposition, particularly Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and the Bersih coalition, a non-governmental pact led by former Bar Council chairman Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan, are being funded by foreign forces.
Following the controversial Bersih 2.0 rally last July 9, Ambiga admitted to the coalition receiving some money from two US-based organisations — the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Open Society Institute (OSI) — but for other projects not related to the protest.
The NDI describes itself as a non-profit, non-partisan organisation “working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government”.
The OSI, according to corporate information on its website, was started by financier George Soros in 1984 to help countries make the transition from communism, and has grown to include not just the US but more than 70 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“Therefore it is clear here that the ‘special roles’ played by these ‘third parties’ truly exist and is not just a hoax or conspiracy theory,” said Muhammad Afifi.
“Today, we must no longer discuss threats and the role of the country. Instead we must pay attention to this ‘special’ third party role and threat to manipulate the international political scenario.”
