The trend in recent years of young people coming into power suggests that voters in many countries are placing personal character above experience when they elect their heads of government, but analysts say it would be hard to see such a leaning in contemporary Malaysia.

Speaking to FMT, Syed Arabi Idid of the International Islamic University Malaysia said political parties in the country still generally adhered to strict hierarchies, often reserving top posts to older members.

He said he subscribed to the belief that it is not always necessary for a politically experienced person to hold the top post in a country.

To him, it is more important for potential leaders to show voters their capabilities to articulate ideas and to make good policies.

He said Malaysia’s leaders must not tie themselves down to petty issues from the past if the country was to move forward, especially in the post-Covid-19 era.

“A good leader in a developing country should not be tied to small things,” he said. “He must think of improving policies and how to run the country effectively.

“If we can do that, I think it will be good for the country’s future.”

He said the country needed far-sighter leaders like former prime ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman and Abdul Razak Hussein.

One of the most talked-about young leaders is New Zealand’s Arden, who is much admired for the way she has managed the pandemic.

Among the other things she is associated with that have enabled her to win hearts and minds were her swift action in tightening New Zealand’s gun laws after the Christchurch terror attack, her addressing of the gender pay gap and her introduction of improvements to family policies.

In Finland, the world’s happiest country for the fourth consecutive year, Marin helms a coalition government that places high importance on environmental sustainability.

All of the leaders in the five-party coalition are women and all are younger than 40. Almost half the parliamentarians are women.

Kurz was the youngest head of government in the world when he held the office of chancellor from December 2017 to May 2019. He was voted in again early last year, with voters hoping that he would galvanise the country again from its political standstill.

France’s President Emmanual Macron was also the youngest head of state since Napoleon at 39, despite never having served in parliament before his election.

Oh Ei Sun, a fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the personal character of leaders and their sincerity in advancing national interests would always matter to voters.

He said Malaysia, however, needed “action-minded, results-oriented, performance-demanding and no-nonsense” people to take charge and get the country going again.

Commenting on New Zealand’s success in containing the pandemic, he said it was due to swift decision-making and the down-to-earth attitude of its government.

“I frankly don’t see comparable local political figures, either presently or on the horizon, possessing characteristics similar to Arden’s. Weak coalition governments, which seem increasingly to be the order of the day here, can barely hold themselves together.”

Among the few young politicians that are seen to be potential leaders are PKR’s Nurul Izzah Anwar and Fahmi Fadzil, Muda’s Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman and DAP’s Yeo Bee Yin and Steven Sim.

One may argue that Arden’s or Marin’s leadership cannot be compared to Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s due to the sheer difference in the three countries’ population sizes, but former academic Azmi Hassan said this had nothing to do with being an effective leader.

“It is true,” he said, “that New Zealand has less than five million people compared to our 32 million, but take Canada’s Justin Trudeau for example. He’s a young leader handling 37 million people and is also heading a minority government.”

Trudeau was 44 when he took office in 2015.

He has run into his fair share of problems lately, but Azmi said he had shown enough proof of his capabilities to be re-elected.

Age may just be a number, but Azmi said young politicians were more willing than their elders to take risks, come up with fresh ideas and listen to others.

However, he acknowledged there were few leadership opportunities for youths.

“It’s very difficult for them to get involved in politics,” he said. “We are lacking these young leaders because of the hierarchical system of political parties. They need to climb their way up.”