Shareholders of Ottawa-based Zarlink Semiconductor Inc. announced Wednesday that they've asked their president and CEO to step down.

In a letter to the company's board of directors, the shareholders asked for Kirk Mandy, the company's chief executive since February of 2005, to vacate his post. The letter also beseeched the board to nominate five new directors for election at their annual general meeting, scheduled for July 23.

The shareholders in question are Scott Leckie, who manages funds owning 5.2 per cent of Zarlink's shares, the second-largest holding in the company, as well as David Banks and Daniel Owen.

"The current Zarlink board appears to be unwilling to recognize that change is overdue, although the share price is down by about 95 per cent since January 2002 and more than 60 per cent since February 2005 when Kirk Mandy took over as CEO for the second time," said Mr. Banks in a statement. "The board of Zarlink has a history of rebuffing or ignoring the concerns of its shareholders while it continues to oversee the mismanagement of the company. They have exhausted our patience. Their time is up."

The letter, according to a release, asked the board "to reverse the long-term erosion in shareholder value" and to agree to a meeting July 2 to discuss the long-term course of the company.