Those who intend to contest against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak in the forthcoming general election must be truly exceptional, an academician says.

The candidate must also be someone who has been in the political arena for a long time, said Prof Madya Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Said.

"The candidate must be on par with the likes of Anwar Ibrahim or Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer told Sinar Harian.

If the candidate was just an “ordinary person”, Mohd Azizuddin said, then the prime minister would have no problems in defeating him.