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)