Bersih is in discussion with its legal team over allegations that the electoral reform movement is sponsored by American business magnate George Soros.

A document purportedly originating from international grant-making network Open Society Foundation (OSF) has alleged that its founder, Soros, has a "personal interest" in the Malaysian elections.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also home minister, has ordered the claim that Bersih, Merdeka Center and Malaysiakini are being funded by Soros to be investigated.

"If they want to investigate us, then go on. So far, for the Bersih 4 and 5 rallies, the money has been from the public.

"We are in discussion with our lawyers. The action we will take depends on what our lawyers say,” Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah told Malaysiakini today.

Bersih steering committee member Rama Ramananthan pointed out that Bersih's funds are from the people.

“Right after Bersih 4.0, we also said that there were about 34,000 transfers to our account. So we are very open about this.

"Our audited account will be published very soon,” Rama added.

Although the Bersih movement is not stated in the OSF document, both New Straits Times (NST) and The Malay Mail have linked the movement to the Malaysia Programme in their reports.

According to NST, Maria said Bersih had received grants from OSF and the National Democratic Institute in 2010 and 2011.

"But we did not use it for our rallies. The amount given to us only made up 11 percent of funds raised from the public in 2011," Maria is reported as saying.

Since then, money was only raised through domestic sources and Bersih has been transparent with its accounts, Maria said.

Merdeka Centre programme director Ibrahim Suffian, meanwhile, similarly said that he is also seeking legal advice on the matter.

"We've started getting some advice but we haven't made any conclusions yet," he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Asked whether a legal suit may be filed for defamation, he said: "We haven't concluded on the course of action as yet, so I can't really answer your question."