Serdang MP Ong Kiang Ming has challenged federal minister Abdul Rahman Dahlan to prove that electoral reforms pressure group Bersih was trying to oust BN from government.

"I challenge him to show us exactly how does Bersih advocate for the illegal toppling of the government.

"None of Bersih's demands is asking for this. (Their demands) are about institutional and electoral reforms," Ong told a press conference at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.

Although Bersih is seeking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's resignation, it was not tantamount to an illegal attempt at ousting BN as the ruling party, said Ong.

Yesterday, Abdul Rahman, who is the minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), said he would instruct departments under his care to run background checks on companies doing business with the government.

Abdul Rahman said this in support of Utusan Malaysia's suggestion for a "blacklist" to document companies which sponsors the Bersih movement.

Utusan had argued that it was wrong to do business with companies which supports a movement that is trying to topple a democratically elected government.

Impartiality in question

Ong said that Abdul Rahman was likely making statements just to gain popularity within Umno.

"On what legal grounds is the minister basing his actions on? Will the minister target companies who support opposition parties next?" he asked.

"The minister clearly shows that the BN has no credibility when it comes to implementing a political financing act that is fair and impartial.

"If he targets companies for supporting Bersih based on spurious and baseless grounds, what is to prevent BN from selectively discriminating against companies and individuals who support the opposition?" he asked.

Ong also challenged the minister to show prove his allegations that Pakatan Harapan-led state government also blacklisted certain "unfriendly" firms.

What about MO1's funding?

Meanwhile, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said it was legally and morally wrong for a political party to use state funds for political funding.

"The political parties have to look for our own fund for simple reason that we cannot use the government's fund," he said.

"It is normal for political party to look for fund. It is part of the game for them to look for new donors when the old one refused to donate."

He was asked to respond to Umno information chief Annuar Musa, who was reported as saying all the political funding channelled to Najib have been distributed to Umno divisions.

He said Najib was forced to shift away from the system created by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad who used to control party funds and find new ways to stabilise Umno.

Annuar, however, did not reveal the source of Umno's political funding.

Pua pointed out that the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) forfeiture suit against proceeds to the Wolf of Wall Street motion picture, which claimed USD731 million was allegedly siphoned from 1MDB into a bank account owned by the unnamed "Malaysian Official 1 (MO1)", had made the source of funding clear.

Pua said it was wrong to use state funds to fund political parties.

"Just because someone refuses to donate to me anymore than I will use government funds for the political party.

"Najib has until today refuses to even deny the allegation. He has chosen to remain absolute silent," he said.