PETALING JAYA: Cheras Umno chief Syed Ali Alhabshee has accused activist lawyer S Ambiga of spreading lies and instigating anarchy with an article she wrote that the New York Times published yesterday. He said the article, which appeared in the paper's op-ed section, was a "clear attempt" to "stir up emotions" a week ahead of the Bersih 4 rallies. The article, titled "Among Malaysia's many scandals," is largely about Malaysia's economic and political crises, corruption scandals and the Election Commission's alleged bias for Barisan Nasional. A reference to the Bersih 4 rallies comes in one of the last paragraphs. In a press statement posted on his website, Syed Ali alleged that Ambiga "padded" her commentary with "shoddy reasoning" to make a case "for the overthrow" of Prime Minister Najib Razak. "She has concocted a fairy tale about the Election Commission ensuring the Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional stay in power through gerrymandering and other fraudulent ways," he said. He acknowledged that Barisan Nasional and Umno "have their flaws, just like any other political party in the world" and that "Najib is embattled with allegations of corruption, which he has denied." However, he questioned Ambiga's impartiality, saying she appeared to have forgotten that the opposition parties and dissident organisations also engaged in questionable politics. He said: "Are the opposition parties free of flaws? Don't they receive foreign funding? Have they been forthcoming in revealing their funding sources? Don't non-governmental organisations in this country receive funding from George Soros, the manipulative currency speculator? "Has Ambiga ever questioned the political infighting amongst the opposition parties? Has she ever vehemently condemned the party hopping that the opposition encourages? "Where was Ambiga when the PKR President and wife of jailed leader Anwar Ibrahim vacated her seat for her husband? "Was she relentless in her pursuit for justice when Anwar forced a state assemblyman to resign so that he could occupy the seat as a springboard to the Menteri Besar's seat in Selangor?" He alleged that the objective of the August 29-30 Bersih rallies was "to mar" the Merdeka celebrations and he urged Malaysians to reject the call to go to the streets. "Yes," he said, "we need the space to criticise the government in a constructive manner. But we certainly don't need saboteurs who create panic and disharmony just to feed their ego and political ambitions."