Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar has expressed frustration with politics getting in the way of policy-making and wished Malaysian politics was “evidence based”.

He made the statement today when asked  by reporters if politics at times got in the way of proper policies being implemented.

NONE “Yeah sometimes. I don’t have to go into which ones, as cabinet minister I don’t have to identify them. I think you will understand, but it frustrates me.

“Because I got into politics because of policy not because of politics, and I wish that our politics was evidence-based, empirically-based,” he responded.

He said that emotions and politics often got in the way of policy-making for both the government and the opposition.

“But politics is important, too, as  policies need to go through  the political process. But now there were instances where policies fail due to politics, when you know the policy is the best choice,” Khairy said.

When asked to identify which policies he was referring to, Khairy declined to answer.

The Youth and Sports Minister also declined to comment on the recent book on his father-in-law Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s tenure as prime minister that has drawn criticism from some members of Umno.