Clean and green man sought for PM

Singapore is looking for someone in their 30s to stand at the next election and eventually become prime minister, a former leader of the city-state said.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 57, is having a difficult time finding suitable candidates and the country's fourth leader could be among new faces in an election due by early 2012, said Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

"He is looking for someone in their early 30s or maybe late 30s. Someone who can rise to be prime minister is not easy to find," said Goh, prime minister from 1990 to 2004. "I'm not saying there is no-one in the Cabinet now who can take over. There are a few people, but they are only a few years younger."

Lee, who battled cancer while deputy prime minister, is the son of independent Singapore's first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, whose People's Action Party marked 50 years in power in June.