Bersih declares RM2.6 million account, dares Najib to do the same

Electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 today declared its accounts and expenditure from the RM2.6 million it received in public donations for the Bersih 4 rally held at the end of August. Announcing a RM1.9 million surplus after deducting RM664,052 in expenses for the 34-hour rally, Bersih also challenged Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to declare the RM2.6 billion donation he allegedly received from a Middle Eastern benefactor. 







Bersih said today that some 27,000 individuals had made donations to the civil society group for the Bersih 4 rally held on August 29 and 30 to demand democratic reforms and Najib's resignation over alleged financial scandal. 

A 2,126-page bank statement with details of the donors has also been sent to the auditors, the group announced today.

"What we are declaring today has been ratified by our financial officers," Bersih treasurer Masjaliza Hamzah said today at a press conference at the group's headquarters in Petaling Jaya.

The declaration comes just over a month following the rally, and after Bersih chairman Maria Chin Abdullah had promised that the group would declare its accounts after receiving the unprecedented sum of money.

The Bersih 4 rally cost the group over RM 300,000 while another RM 340,000 was spent for pre-rally expenditures, including the printing of T-shirts.

The surplus will be used for Bersih's future programs, which included voter education, costs for court cases, training, Masjalizah added.

With some 27,000 donors, the average amount given by each individual worked out to RM76 per person.

The majority of donors, however, donated between RM10 to RM50, Bersih added.

Repeating calls to Najib to declare the RM2.6 billion donation that went to his personal accounts, Masjalizah said the prime minister's credibility would "disappear" if he did not do so.

Najib and several BN leaders had before this accused Bersih of not declaring their accounts. – October 6, 2015.

The Bersih 2.0 team holding part of the 2,126 pages of the bank statement, which will now be sent to the auditors. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Afif Abd Halim, October 6, 2015.