AZRIN Zizal says his former boss Mukhriz Mahathir lied about not receiving election advice from Cambridge Analytica (CA) in 2013.

The SCL Group Southeast Asia chief said the ex-Kedah menteri besar had been personally advised by his company.

“The 2013 election advice for Kedah was provided to Mukhriz personally.

“It is time for Mukhriz to stop deliberately distorting the facts to save himself, and come clean,” he said in a statement released to the media today.

Azrin said Mukhriz had also lied about CA doing work for Barisan Nasional.

“This again is not true. At no time has CA or its parent SCL Group ever worked for or been paid by BN or any part of the government of Malaysia,“he said.

The Malaysian Insight is contacting Mukhriz for his comments.

Mukhriz yesterday categorically denied using CA’s services while leading Kedah Barisan Nasional’s election campaign in the 13th general election.

The former Kedah menteri besar, who is now with opposition party Bersatu, said he never knew about the company despite claims by the company that it had supported BN in Kedah with a targeted messaging campaign that highlighted its school improvements since 2008.

“I led Kedah’s BN election machinery during GE13, our strategies and tactics were only to defeat the PAS-led government at that time but we were never contacted by the CA, not even once.

“Whatever that we did was based on our own initiatives and ideas, without CA’s help,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

However, he did not discount that BN headquarters could have hired the CA.

The BN immediately denied hiring CA but said the data-mining and political consultancy firm had confirmed it provided advice to Mukhriz in GE13 when he was with the ruling coalition.

Azrin said Mukhriz’s statement that he was only his media officer until 2013 and that he was no longer with him when he became menteri besar of Kedah was also false.

“I worked for Mukhriz personally and provided communications and strategy advice for him until 2015, including during the 2013 general election, and afterwards when he became menteri besar. I will provide proof if he continues to falsify the truth,” he said in the statement.

“Perhaps – while Mukhriz continues to deny my work for him and deny the benefits he gained from the advice I provided to him from CA/SCL Group for Kedah during the 2013 general election – he will also deny Kedah winning an extra six parliament seats, winning over the state and him becoming menteri besar?” he said.

However, Cambridge Analytica’s Wikipedia page shows that it was founded on December 31, 2013, more than half a year after GE13. – March 21, 2018.