PENANG, MALAYSIA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made some 'unusual choices' in his new Cabinet line-up, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

He said, however, it was the Prime Minister's prerogative to choose his team, adding that he would have had his own reasons for doing so.

Among the unusual choices were the exclusion of Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz and the inclusion of an 'old face' like Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib, which was a name he did not expect to surface, Lim said.

He said he would try to fix an appointment to meet with Abdullah after the swearing-in of the new Cabinet to determine what was in store for Penangites.

"We hope the Federal Government will cooperate and keep its promises made to Penangites before the election," he said after receiving a courtesy call from a PAS delegation from Kelantan.

PAS vice-president and Kelantan state executive councillor Datuk Husam Musa, who led the delegation, said it was not the size or faces in Cabinet that mattered.

"The Opposition places importance on a change in the style of how the country is managed regarding several big issues, and we will await delivery from this new Cabinet," he said.Husam also said what was needed was an immediate reform within the judiciary.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang said the new Cabinet line-up sent out mixed signals that Abdullah was starting to "hear the truth from the people".

"The surprise appointment of Datuk Zaid Ibrahim with the portfolio of legal affairs will be most significant if it reflects a belated commitment to institute judicial reforms to restore confidence in the judiciary," he said in Petaling Jaya.

Lim said that without parliament secretaries, the 27 ministers should start a new political culture of placing parliamentary accountability among their top responsibilities and not play truant from Parliament sittings.

Perak DAP chairman Ngeh Koo Ham said the new Cabinet line-up was a good change for the country.

Ngeh said the previous Cabinet with its parliamentary secretaries had been "far too big".

"The Cabinet should be compact and play an executive role.

"Otherwise, such a Cabinet would be at the expense of the people. By right, those of high qualification and special skills should be appointed. They should be people who actually want to put heart, soul and mind into the nation," he added.

PKR de-facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim however said things would not change fundamentally with the new Cabinet line-up.

"You can change faces but there is no inclination that things are going to change fundamentally," he said.

"We will monitor this new line-up but we are not talking about personalities. Malaysians have spoken in the election that there is a need for change. They want a new dawn," he said.