Muhyiddin and Mukhriz plead ignorance on Cambridge Analytica

PETALING JAYA: Former deputy prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and former Kedah mentri besar Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir have denied any knowledge of Cambridge Analytica (CA) doing electioneering work in Malaysia.
On the CA website, Malaysia is mentioned as a case study as it did work for the BN in Kedah. BN won Kedah back from Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general election (GE13), winning 21 out of 36 state seats and 10 out of the 15 parliamentary seats.
CA, the data analytics firm banned by Facebook, has told British Channel 4 that his company has done electioneering work in Malaysia.
Mark Turnbull, managing director of CA Political Global, said this during a series of undercover videos filmed over the last year.
Muhyiddin, who is now Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, today blamed the use of such consultancy firms on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's habit of "doing things on his own".
"I don't know anything. Najib does things on his own," said Muhyiddin, who was Barisan Nasional's elections director, told a news portal.
Mukhriz, the former Kedah Umno chief, also pleaded ignorance of data firm Cambridge Analytica's activities in the state during GE13.
"I never knew CA nor ever engaged them to do any work. If they claim to have been involved with Kedah in GE13, I was not aware of it.
"None of the strategies and tactics I employed as head of elections for Kedah BN during GE13 were in any way derived from advice from CA. Perhaps they were consulting with the Prime Minister's Office or BN's headquarters," Mukhriz told another news portal in a text message today.