Dr M responds to KJ's 'why don't you like me' poser

Former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad today alluded to a one-time contest between his son Mukhriz and Khairy Jamaludin as the reason for his attitude towards the former minister.

Khairy in the latest episode of his ‘Keluar Sekejap’ podcast aired today confronted Mahathir with the question: "Why don't you like me?"

"Because you contested against my son, and your mother-in-law campaigned for you," said Mahathir.

Mahathir did not specifically refer to any contest, but Khairy had in March 2009 defeated Mukhriz and former Selangor menteri besar Khir Toyo in a three-cornered battle for the post of Umno Youth chief.

At the time, Khairy’s father-in-law Abdullah Ahmad Badawi led his last Umno general assembly before resigning as prime minister a month later and was replaced by Najib Abdul Razak, who was the deputy prime minister then.

Subsequently, Najib did not appoint Khairy to be a member of his cabinet but instead named Mukhriz as deputy international trades and industries minister.

Khairy appeared puzzled by Mahathir's initial response, and the nonagenarian continued, "That's what I was told.”

"No such thing (campaigning)," said Khairy, but Mahathir insisted he had heard the stories.

"Let's not discuss that. That is my belief," said the former Umno president.

Abdullah, fondly known as Pak Lah, had served as the fifth prime minister from Oct 31, 2003, to April 2, 2009, and Khairy as his son-in-law had also served as his aide, including to defend the administration against Mahathir's critics.

Reflecting on Abdullah's years in office, Khairy described the friction as differences of opinion over policies such as the Singapore-Malaysia crooked bridge and the sale of Malaysian-owned motorcycle company MV Agusta.

"In defence of Pak Lah, as you know, Pak Lah has dementia (now). He doesn't remember anything," said Khairy.

Mahathir attempted to explain why he was disappointed with Abdullah's "broken promises" but Khairy ended the episode by stating they would agree to disagree on certain matters between the two leaders. - Mkini