Former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has claimed that his son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin did not have "undue influence" on him while serving as a member of his administration.

NONE Defending Khairy's role, Abdullah said the group dubbed the ‘fourth floor boys’ - staffers in the Prime Minister's Department led by Khairy - were not even his advisers.

"They were not my advisers. They were official members of my administration, my son-in-law included, for a while,” he said in the upcoming book, ‘Awakening: Abdullah Badawi Years in Malaysia’.

“They provided administrative support and feedback but they were not policy makers."

Abdullah claimed that the personal attacks against Khairy and his colleagues had generally stemmed from "resistance to change".

"We recruited people from outside of government, people who believed in changes I wanted to make.

“But the establishment resisted these changes, instead of working with these boys, (and) proceeded to demonise them.”

Abdullah went on to defend both his son Kamaluddin Abdullah and Khairy, claiming that they did not benefit from his tenure.

NONE "There were many allegations made against my son and son-in-law regarding government projects and business, particularly by (predecessor Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad, left ).

But the fact is my son Kamal was a businessman long before I became prime minister or even deputy prime minister," he said.

"I cannot stop him (Kamal) from being involved in business and earning a living. But I can tell you throughout my time in office, my son never got anything through direct negotiations. If he was awarded any contracts, it was through a transparent tender process.”

‘Khairy unfairly accused’

Khairy, he said, did not abuse his position even though people approached him to pass on requests or proposals.

"... I must say here he did not abuse his position," Abdullah said.

He said that Khairy has been "unjustly" and "unfairly" accused of many things.

"I wonder whether those who attacked him and forced him into the wilderness were happy that they had broken his rice bowl," he mused.