AN American think-tank has refuted claims that it worked with the opposition Pakatan Harapan in an attempt to undermine the then ruling Barisan Nasional government.  

The International Republican Institute (IRI) said it is a non-partisan organisation that has worked with partners in Malaysia since 2002 to strengthen the ability of political parties to compete in elections and adhere to the practices of citizen-centred governance.

IRI said it provided non-partisan capacity building support to parties across the political spectrum in the form of direct training workshops and consultations with both the PH and BN coalitions.

It does not provide financial assistance to political parties in Malaysia.

“These activities have engaged participants from across the political and social spectrum, and have included initiatives designed to increase youth participation within political and civic spheres and to strengthen the capacity of Malaysia’s civil society organisations. Through this work, IRI has helped Malaysian citizens hold their elected officials accountable and communicate their concerns to government,” it said in a statement today.

The statement comes following news portal Free Malaysia Today’s report yesterday that IRI president Daniel Twinning had admitted that the Washington-based outfit’s efforts in Malaysia had finally paid off in the 14th general election.

He said the opposition’s victory would work in Washington’s favour.

“I visited and I was sitting there with many of the new leaders of this new government, many of whom were our partners who we’ve been working with for 15 years, and one of the most senior of them who’s now one of the people running the government said to me, ‘Gosh, IRI, you never gave up on us even when we were ready to give up on ourselves’,” Twinning was quoted as saying in a forum last month.

The forum was organised by the Centre for Strategic & International Studies.

Subsequently, PKR Wanita chief Zuraida Kamaruddin said PH never worked with the IRI to overthrow the previous BN government.

The housing and local government minister said she only knew that IRI was a pressure group focused on capacity building programmes.

“If you are referring to IRI that comes to Malaysia for leadership programmes and other things, I don’t think the claims are right.”  

PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang said IRI held seminars in Malaysia to discuss on the best ways possible to do electoral reforms.

“As far as I know, their funds are used for programmes like this, the programmes were participated by opposition and all civil societies that were concerned about this kind of issue.

“All parties (in PH) didn’t receive and will not receive foreign funds. We (PKR) have made the decision since reformasi when PKR was founded. We have not received a single sen of foreign funds.” – August 7, 2018.