MCMC probes alleged foreign funding of news portals - Salleh

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission is investigating complaints on the alleged channelling of foreign funds to certain news portals with the intention of overthrowing the democratically elected government in the country, it was stated here today.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the report on the probe would be handed over to the Attorney-General for further action.

He said the MCMC had received many complaints on this threat and there was a need to conduct a thorough investigation by examining various new media.

"We have received complaints on the matter, and we are looking at the new media. We are identifying the source. We will leave it to the AG (Attorney-General) to decide," he told reporters after the pre-launch of the KL International Youth Discourse 2016 here.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said yesterday that an investigation would be conducted on allegations that billionaire George Soros was funding Bersih, the Merdeka Centre and Malaysiakini.

Salleh said it was improper to topple a democratically elected government because the right to elect a government rested entirely in the hands of the people.

"We are an independent country, and there are methods to manage an independent nation. We practise parliamentary democracy; the people have the right to determine the ruling power. We cannot use any other means outside the constitution to achieve that goal," he said.

Commenting on the 2050 National Transformation (TN50), Salleh said the first step that should be taken was to obtain feedback from youths of the different races and religions on the measures to be adopted to determine the future of the nation in the next 30 years.

As such, he said, the KL International Youth Discourse 2016 to be launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Nov 26 at Sunway Resort and Spa Petaling Jaya was the best way to obtain the views and opinions of youths.

Najib, when tabling Budget 2017 in the Dewan Rakyat, announced TN50 - a vision to drive the country towards becoming a high-income and developed nation. -- BERNAMA