Meet Mahathir from Semarang

Meet Mahathir from Semarang

SEMARANG: With his average-sized body, his smile, his slick
hair and glasses, Daromi Irdjas is a deadringer for Malaysia's
strongman leader Mahathir Mohamad.

Daromi, deputy chief of the Central Java Election Committee,
says his resemblance to Mahathir is an "advantage" because it
helps new acquaintances to remember his face.

While Daromi and Mahathir have a lot of physical features in
common, Daromi says he is "less fortunate" because the ebb and
flow of his career has yet to wash him past the rank of deputy.

Daromi, 58, is also a deputy leader of the Central Java
chapter of the United Development Party (PPP). Before that, he
was deputy chairman of the party's executive board in Purworejo,
the town of his birth.

"As far as our political careers are concerned, we (Mahathir
and I) do not share anything in common," Daromi, who does not
idolize the Malaysian prime minister, told Antara.

Good luck, Mr. Mahathir, eh... Mr. Daromi. (pan)