KUALA LUMPUR - Datuk Seri Idris Jala, chief steward of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's economic reforms, fits the profile of a "winnable" political candidate.

The 55-year-old Christian from Sarawak's Kelabit tribe is well-liked and respected. More importantly, he has no baggage. He and his wife, Datin Seri Pang Ngan Yue, have two sons Leon, 23, and Max Jala, 17.

After graduating from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1982, he worked for Shell, holding various key positions and serving across different divisions and regions. He was appointed chief executive of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) in 2005. He helped turn around the national carrier, before leaving in 2009 to lead Datuk Seri Najib's economic agenda.

Unfortunately for the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, which had scoured the country for winnable candidates since losing its super-majority in 2008, Mr Idris turned down its request to contest in the May 5 polls.

"Politics is just not for me. I've been asked and the answer is 'This is not for me'," he told The Straits Times.

Instead, the boss of Pemandu, a unit in the Prime Minister's Department tasked to drive reforms, has until September 2015 to wrap up his work, provided the election retains the status quo or swings in favour of BN.

Mr Najib has described his reforms as the "most daring experiments". But he's not the only one blowing his government's trumpet. For its ability to grow the economy amid a weak external environment, Malaysia got a pat on the back from the International Monetary Fund last month.

And in the eyes of global anticorruption watchdog Transparency International, Malaysia's score has improved. Mr Najib's re-engineering plan has been in the cross hairs of the opposition alliance Pakatan Rakyat, not least because of the election, expected to be the closest in Malaysia's history and just two weeks away.

Mr Idris too has inadvertently been caught in the crossfire of politics since the reform plan was hatched back in 2009.

"Mud is being thrown from both sides. I can observe this crossfire but for me, facts must stand on their own. Even that is being misinterpreted," he said.

A painfully detailed 336-page annual report on the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and a 125-page report on the Government Transformation Programme, to mark the progress, were issued recently.

The ETP has ambitious targets: to raise the country's gross national income (GNI) to US$15,000 (S$18,500), create 3.3 million jobs and draw US$444 billion in investments - all of this by 2020.

At first blush, the numbers are impressive. GNI per capita has shot up from US$6,700 to US$9,970 last year, which has led to optimism that the target can be met earlier, by 2018. Investments grew 20 per cent last year, making up 26.7 per cent of gross domestic product. Government revenue rose to a record RM207 billion (S$84 billion). But there are signs that the momentum may be waning.

Committed investments last year fell 82 per cent to RM32 billion, from RM179 billion a year ago. New jobs spun off from these investments slipped too - from 314,000 jobs in 2011 to 95,000 last year. Malaysia's crime index has fallen 27 per cent since 2010 and street crime by 41 per cent. But many Malaysians are sceptical and over half do not feel safe.

"We scored zero in terms of improving public perception. But the (crime) numbers are less, trust me. So, there's a disconnect," Mr Idris said.

Corruption, be it in politics or business, is another major beef. "We don't have zero graft obviously. We have a long way to go but we've improved," he said. BN's own election manifesto expounds on goals set by these programmes. That's a rub for some.

"Mr Najib had four years to see to these matters, raising the question then about the efficacy of his reform agenda and his political will to deal with core problems such as corruption and the poor state of education," said University of Malaya political economy professor Terence Gomez.

Other significant shifts such as implementation of a minimum wage policy, the Competition Act and liberalisation of the service sector have fallen under the radar.

"These are big reforms but unfortunately, not the most sexy part of story," Mr Idris admitted.