I’ll die for Mahathir who never lies, declares Khairuddin

INTERVIEW Dr Mahathir Mohamad has been accused of masterminding a plot to topple the prime minister and it is often claimed that Khairuddin Abu Hassan is acting upon the orders of the nonagenarian with regard to his campaign against 1MDB.

But the Umno man denies this despite stressing that he is willing to lay down his life for the former premier, for whom he harbours great admiration for.

“When people see my face, they always implicate me with him (Mahathir). (It’s) not true at all.

“Pertaining to my struggle to seek the truth especially with regard to 1MDB, I never discussed even a single thing with Mahathir,” he said in an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini.

Khairuddin’s (photo) black blazer accentuated the fact that his two months in Sungai Buloh prison had led the father of four to lose much weight.

Joking about this experience, the former Batu Kawan Umno division vice-chief said he was willing to go to prison again because it is a surefire method to shed kilograms.

“I lost 10kgs,” he said while laughing.

Khairuddin and his lawyer Matthias Chang were arrested on charges of sabotaging the Malaysian financial and banking system following a slew of reports the pair lodged against 1MDB, the troubled brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, in several countries.

Both Chang and him are currently out on bail.

Reiterating that he is not Mahathir’s “errand boy”, Khairuddin, 53, described this as an unfortunate perception.

If it were true, he argued that he would have become a senior minister back in 1998.

'Dr M doesn't need a young punk'

However, he considers himself a “staunch loyalist” of the former premier, who governed the nation for more than two decades.

“I look upon him (with) very high (regards),” he said, adding that Mahathir “never lied”.

“During his tenure, he governed the country well. Malaysia almost stood on par with developed nations at that point of time,” he pointed out.

Furthermore, Khairuddin said Mahathir being a senior statesman did not need a person like him.

“He is a world-class leader. He can stand on his own two feet to battle anyone; not only the local, corrupted leaders but also other world leaders.

“He doesn’t need a young punk like me, who am I to him? I don’t think I can contribute anything to him, I’m too small (and) petty,” he added.

The last time Khairuddin met Mahathir was when he bumped into the former premier at Istana Budaya during the staging of Teater Muzikal Mak Cun on Sunday.

“I greeted him, but we didn’t discuss anything pertaining to politics.

“I have never walked into his office to seek his opinion on anything. He has never uttered a single word to extend compliments to me on what I am doing now,” he said.

However, the former premier did condemn his and Chang’s arrest and even attended one of their hearings. Chang had also served as an aide to Mahathir.

Khairuddin said the Mahathir link could have come about after he published the controversial book detailing ‘50 reasons’ Anwar Ibrahim is not fit to be prime minister in 1998. -Mkini