Don’t drag BN into Cambridge Analytica issue – Mahdzir

KULIM: Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Tun Mahathir should not drag Barisan Nasional (BN) into the controversy linking the latter with data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.

Mahdzir, who is also Kedah UMNO liaison committee deputy chairman and Education Minister, said as a member of the state UMNO and BN liaison committee since 2008 until 2013, issues pertaining to the company was never once raised during any party meetings.

“As far as I can remember, there has never been a meeting on engaging the company’s services, if any, he (Mukhriz) might have used it for personal purposes (when he was the Kedah Menteri Besar).

“That’s why, if there is any arising matter, it is between him and Cambridge Analytica,” he told reporters after officiating an Education Ministry’s meet-thepeople session here yesterday.

Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah on Friday denied engaging Cambridge Analytica or its parent company SCL Group for the party’s campaign in the 13th General Election (GE13). The Prime Minister’s Office in a statement on Tuesday said that Cambridge Analytica had never been paid by BN or the government.

Meanwhile, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Mohd Johari Baharum opined that Mukhriz’s ‘express’ involvement in politics might have led him to use Cambridge Analytica’s services to help in his GE13 campaign. – Bernama