special report khairy jamaluddin interview 100309

The past five years have been a roller-coaster ride for Khairy Jamaluddin - that's how he described it himself.

MCPX

Once labeled as the most powerful 28-year-old in Malaysia, Khairy now 32 is struggling to win the Umno Youth chief post when he would have been a shoo-in not too long ago.

In a 90-minute interview with Malaysiakini - the first he has given to the online newsdaily - Khairy talked about what went wrong.

In the interview, Khairy defended his father-in-law - outgoing PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is fondly known as Pak Lah - and the Fourth Floor, a powerful coterie of young aides to the prime minister.

He also conceded that public perception of him is so bad that he has crossed the point of no return.

The Khairy interview

Part 1: Me, Pak Lah and the 4th Floor boys

Part 2: 'Am I arrogant? I don't think so'

Part 3: RPK, like KJ, is larger than life

Part 4: 'I'm not a political opportunist'

Part 5: Fuel hike - the gov't did not panic

Part 6: 'BN doesn't share the same dream anymore'