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120 Ross Tapsell

messaging campaign’ which resulted in BN’s ‘landslide victory’ in 2013 (Leong
2018). e opposition had previously won the state of Kedah in 2008, and BN
was looking to recapture it in 2013. e site also featured an accompanying
picture of Prime Minister Najib. CA’s website stated that it maintained an
o ce on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur as its ‘Southeast Asia’ base, although
it was never clear if this o ce was actually used.
CA’s Southeast Asia representative was Azrin Zizal. I interviewed him
in February 2018 in Shah Alam, a few months prior to the CA scandal. He
described CA’s activities in Kedah in this way:
Kedah was in a general election mood. It is a very rural state, internet usage
is minimal—but the target was the external voters. Kedah doesn’t o er many
job opportunities for the young. Lots of retirees (there are many retirees living
here). ese are strong Malay heartlands. ey either vote for BN or for PAS.
Small percentage of non-Malay voters there. e often forgotten voters are
those who stay in KL or Johor or Sabah. How do we get them over to come
back and vote in Kedah? Among the voters in Kedah for the target group we
employed some tactics so that we can start propaganda across the internet and
mass media knowing very well the local voters don’t use it, but it persuades
the more modern and younger voters from other states to come and vote. It
worked. ere was a rise of ‘grey voters’ who could be persuaded [to vote for
BN]. You start giving reality to the current economic situation. We say if BN
doesn’t come back these are the big possibilities or trends. If they don’t make
an e ort you are going to have more trouble for your parents. It’s nice to have
your parents in Kedah while you enjoy yourself in KL or wherever, but you
don’t want them staying with you [if they lose money]! We started to identify
Kedahans in KL, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak – giving them periodic messages.
(Interview, Azrin Zizal, Shah Alam, February 2018)
Kedah’s chief minister at that time was Mukhriz Mohamad, Mahathir’s son.
Mukhriz was forced to step down as chief minister of Kedah in February
2016, eventually leaving BN and joining his father and former Deputy Prime
Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in creating a new party, Parti Pribumi Bersatu
Malaysia (PPBM or Bersatu). e CA scandal played out front and centre in
GE14, with Najib accusing Mukhriz of hiring CA alone, and Mukhriz saying
CA was funded by BN (Leong 2018) or even the Malaysian royals (Azrul
Hakimie 2018).
In 2016 Azrin said CA was involved in the state of Selangor in the
Sungai Besar by-election, working with Barisan Nasional candidate Budiman
Mohamad Zodhi, who went on to win the election convincingly (53 per cent
of votes). e by-election was held in June 2016 after the sitting member of

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