Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was sworn in here on Friday as Malaysia's new prime minister.
Najib, wearing a black traditional costume, was sworn in by Malaysia's Supreme Head Mizan Zainal Abidin at Istana Negara (National Palace) in Kuala Lumpur in a solemn ceremony, local TV footage showed.
Also attending were outgoing Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and other senior ministers.
Badawi is expected to hand over his duties to Najib at the Prime Minister's office in Putrajaya, the administrative center of Malaysia at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) Friday.
On Thursday, Malaysian Supreme Head has consented to the appointment of Najib as the sixth prime minister of Malaysia.
In Thursday morning, Badawi had an audience with Supreme Head to hand over the letter relinquishing the post of prime minister in accordance with the agreed transition of power from him to Najib.
Najib, who succeeded Badawi as the president of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the leading ruling party in the country, at the party general assembly last week, also had an audience with Supreme Head at Istana Negara on Thursday.
Badawi was appointed the fifth prime minister of Malaysia on Oct.30, 2003, having succeeded Mahathir. Source:Xinhua
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