Fall of BN started from time of Pak Lah – Puad to '4th floor' KJ

An Umno division leader has censured the party's former Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin after the latter blamed 1MDB for BN's defeat in the last general election.

Turning the clock back to before the 2008 general election, Mohd Puad Zarkashi said the decline started from the time when Khairy's father-in-law Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was prime minister.

During that period, Khairy spearheaded a team of advisors to the prime minister, who were referred to as the “4th-floor boys”.

Puad said stories of how these advisors controlled the Prime Minister's Office had become campaign fodder for the opposition and Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Mahathir had handpicked Abdullah, who is also known as Pak Lah, as his successor after he stepped down in 2003. However, following a fallout, Mahathir launched a series of scathing attacks on Abdullah and this intensified after the 2008 polls, forcing the latter to relinquish his post.

Puad, who heads the Batu Pahat Umno division, asked Khairy if he was prepared to accept that BN's downfall began during Abdullah's tenure, or if he would dismiss this as perception.

“... But it is the reality. Stories of how the 4th-floor boys controlled the Prime Minister's Office had become campaign fodder to topple Abdullah.

“Hopefully, Khairy does not practice 'denial syndrome'. The tale of the 4th-floor boys was campaign material for Tun M (Mahathir) to bring down Pak Lah, but it had adverse implications on Umno,” he added in a statement.

[More to follow] - Mkini