Khairy had no influence on me, claims Pak Lah

Former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has claimed that his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin did not have "undue influence" on him while serving as a member of his administration.

Defending Khairy's role, Abdullah said the group dubbed the ‘fourth floor boys’ - staffers in the Prime Minister's Department led by Khairy - were not even his advisers.

"They were not my advisers. They were official members of my administration, my son-in-law included, for a while,” he said in the book, ‘Awakening: Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia’.

“They provided administrative support and feedback but they were not policy makers."

Abdullah claimed that the personal attacks against Khairy and his colleagues had generally stemmed from "resistance to change".

"We recruited people from outside of government, people who believed in changes I wanted to make.

“But the establishment resisted these changes, instead of working with these boys, (and) proceeded to demonise them.”

[More to follow]