Yes, the 'fourth floor boys' have returned

(Malaysian Mirror) - Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had accused his successor Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of being ill-advised and influenced in his decisions by a band of 'fourth floor boys', said a similar kind of group has surfaced in the current administration. "I don't know what floor they are on. I think there is some evidence," he said at a media conference after launching the malaysianmirror.com news portal here on Tuesday. The former prime minister, who is now Malaysia's most famous blogger, was asked if such a group now exists to advise Najib Abdul Razak, who took over the helm of the Government and the Umno presidency from Abdullah in March. Young and smart The news portal, in a news commentary, had said that Najib's concept of 1Malaysia could have been conceived by a group of advisors similar to the 'fourth floor boys' of Abdullah's time and could have come from outside the Umno boardrooms. The online paper speculated that among other key decisions that had allegedly not gone well among party members was the abolishment of the Ministry of Entrepreneurial and Co-operatives Development. His attempt to bring a third bridge to link Johor and Singapore also backfired when the Sultan of Johor, supported by the assemblymen of the state, rejected the idea. In his brief era, Abdullah was allegedly advised by a team of relatively young officers with sound knowledge on current affairs, with good business acumen and good networking skills as well as being very media savvy. Which floor now? They were said to have operated from a floor below the fifth level of the Prime Minister's office in Putrajaya and allegedly very authoritative in their ways to the extent that anyone who wanted to meet their 'boss' had to first be screened by them. In other words, if the 'fourth floor boys' were not convinced about the nature of the planned meeting, the visitor would not get to go to the upper floor. Dr Mahathir, who gave them the label, had accused them of using their talents and close links with Abdullah to influence decisions and policies in Umno and the administration. Commenting on the possibility that the ghostly group has resurfaced, he said: "There are people like the 'fourth floor boys.' (They are of) the same category. But which floor? I don't know."