KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 — Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) said today it would seek the advice of its lawyers to see if there are any grounds for legal action against the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) over a statement linking Cambridge Analytica (CA) and a top PPBM leader.

The party’s chief strategist Datuk Rais Husin told Malay Mail that the press statement from PMO quoting SCL alleging that CA worked with then-Umno Kedah chief and now PPBM deputy president Datuk Seri Mukhriz Mahathir was a "complete and blatant lie”.

"It is highly defamatory. We are not taking anything off the table including unleashing legal action against them,” Rais said in reference to the statement.

"This is clear defamation and an attempt to smear Mukhriz, especially since he has issued two statements [on the matter].

"Yet, they continue doing this. This is a mode of distraction which they are good at,” he added, referring to the statement.

Putrajaya and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) said in a statement earlier today they had never engaged CA’s services in 13th general election.

Instead, the Prime Minister’s Office stated that a representative from CA’s parent company SCL Group earlier confirmed that it had directly provided its advice to Mukhriz.

Mukhriz admitted that he personally knows SCL Group’s South-east Asia head, Azrin Zizal, who was his former press officer when he served as international trade and industry deputy minister from 2009 to 2013.

However, he denied working with the controversial data mining firm during the 13th General Election. CA on the other hand has stated on its website that it was instrumental for BN's Kedah victory.

* A previous version of the article erroneously reported Rais as saying PPBM was considering action against Cambridge Analytica. He has since clarified that he meant the Prime Minister’s Office.