Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should conduct a major overhaul of his cabinet line-up, including dropping certain senior ministers, said an Umno politician today.

According to Kota Baru MP Zaid Ibrahim this will allow the government to rid itself of 'old problems, habits and thinking' to address the current challenges in the wake of tens of thousands taking to the streets to vent their frustrations.

"I am sure he (Abdullah) is going to get a new mandate (in the coming general election) but please, he should change the cabinet, reshuffle the team and do a major overhaul," he told about 50 Kuala Lumpur Rotary Club members at a talk in Kuala Lumpur.

Earlier, Zaid said among the 'old problems' was the reluctance to listen to the people's demands.

Samy's name mentioned

His call was greeted with approval from the floor, the majority of whom were professionals. Some from the floor shouted the name of Works Minister and MIC president S Samy Vellu.

The Umno politician had the crowd in stitches when he responded: "Yes, even if (the prime minister) has to change some senior ministers, go ahead".

Samy Vellu, who has been in power for the past 29 years, landed in the limelight following the rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) which saw some 30,000 protesters descending on the streets of Kuala Lumpur complaining over the marginalisation of the Indian community.

Zaid, who also runs one of the biggest legal firms in the country, was invited to the club's weekly luncheon talk to discuss issues in the forthcoming general election.

On this, he expected matters such as ethnic marginalisation raised by Hindraf to be hotly debated during the elections, which according to him, will be called early next year.

However, he said this issue would not have a major impact on the results of the general election.

"It will rekindle discussions on these issues, they are important but they will not change the outcome of the election," he said, adding that election results in the country generally yields no major surprise.

BN a 'wonderful concept'

Zaid also touched on his homestate Kelantan, which will be closely watched in the coming polls following speculation that Barisan Nasional would recapture the state from PAS, which has been in power since 1990.

He quoted a recent prediction by a political analyst who said that the Islamic party may lose its grip on the state.

"Probably its not so much of PAS' failings but it's just because it has been there for 18 years," he said.

To a question on why he chooses to remain in BN despite his harsh criticisms against the ruling coalition, the politician said he believes in changing from within and his criticisms are intended to improve BN.

He added that the coalition was a "wonderful concept" to get different races together.

However, Zaid said he would like to see the component parties be more BN-driven than driven by their respective community's interest and the parties should hold monthly BN meetings to thrash out issues.

"We really need the BN-based policies in place and that is the key change that I would like to see," he added.