In his winding up speech at the 70th Umno general assembly, Zahid, who is also home minister, said the taskforce comprised the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Attorney-General’s Chambers.
He said the government would not let up in its quest for information on these movements and will take necessary action if needed.
He added that anyone who had committed wrongdoings should not blame the government if action was taken against them.
“Let the taskforce do its job independently. If they find solid evidence, then action will be taken,” he said.
Zahid claimed there were some organisations here which had been been influenced by the idea of what he called “The Colour Revolution”, which, he said, was being pushed by an institution known as the Centre for Applied Non-Violent Action Strategies (Canvas).
The Colour Revolution, he said, wanted to accomplish revolutions without violence by training, planning and developing strategies to oust democratically-elected governments.
He said the Colour Revolution was a concept founded by Gene Sharp through the Albert Einstein Institute, which, he added, received funds from the National Endowment for Democracy, International Republic Institute, George Soros Foundation and the Open Society Foundations (OSF).
In recent years, Zahid claimed, The Colour Revolution activities had been carried out in Ukraine, Lebanon, Iraq and Kuwait, among other countries.
“In Malaysia, some organisations have been found to be influenced by the idea of The Colour Revolution, too, including Suaram, Bersih, Bar Council, Malaysiakini and Sarawak Report,” he claimed.
He added, “Bersih organised the rally calling for free and fair election but the truth is, it was a yellow movement to overthrow the government.”
According to a report in the South China Morning Post (SCMP) published on Nov 3, civil society organisations in Malaysia had received funds from OSF in recent years.
This was confirmed by the OSF in their response to queries from the Hong Kong-based publication.
OSF had also admitted to providing small grants to election reform coalition Bersih shortly after it was formed in 2011 but said it did not currently support the group.
“The Open Society Foundations are proud to have supported civil society in Malaysia for 10 years. Claims that the Open Society Foundations funded attempts to overthrow the government in Malaysia are entirely false.
“The Open Society Foundations support justice, accountability and democratic practice around the world, and in Malaysia our grant-making to civil society includes efforts to promote public health, foster fair migration policies and encourage the civic and political participation of all Malaysian citizens,” OSF was quoted as saying in an email reply to SCMP.