Why isn't there any suitable prime ministerial candidate for Malaysia? The way our political system or rather political 'culture' is structured, most Malaysians will be eliminated from the PM's post by default based on the following:

Non-Malays who constitute 45 percent of the country's population are ruled out as the PM has to be the leader of the political party with 'majority' seats, i.e. Umno for now, eliminates many talented and outstanding candidates from other races;

Women, 51 percent of population, are also ruled out. Since Umno has separate wings for Wanita Umno and Puteri Umno, it means either leader is not even considered for the position, not yet anyway;

Sabah/Sarawak, being allied states, are not treated the same as the peninsular states;

Anyone deemed to be 'not religious', nay 'not Islamic', enough stands no chance;

Anyone who cannot speak English fluently; and

Anyone lacking 'economic sense' and global exposure.

The list goes on, but the real problem, I think, is in finding a good leader with good leadership qualities — someone who is able to think critically and independently, being able to treat all Malaysians equally, being progressive enough, etc.

The PM should also not act as if he is just the cohort for a bunch of people who embrace a political party primarily to look into their own interests first before those of the country and citizens.

It is little wonder that we cannot find good PM candidate. It is time we engineered a paradigm shift in Malaysian politics.