Najib Razak is new Malaysian PM

Kuala Lumpur, April 3 (IANS) Najib Tun Razak was sworn in Friday morning as Malaysia's sixth prime minister, succeeding Abdullah Ahmed Badawi who resigned Thursday.

Razak was administered the oath of office, loyalty and confidentiality by the royal constitutional head, Yang di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin, Star Online said.

The oath taking ceremony was witnessed by Badawi and his predecessor and the country's long-time prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

After the swearing in of Razak, the king conferred traditional Malaysian titles on Badawi and his wife, Jeanne Abdullah.

Badawi was conferred the Darjah Seri Maharaja Mangku Negara which carries the title Tun.

Jeanne was conferred the Darjah Seri Setia Mahkota Negara, which also carries the title Tun.

Badawi, who won a second term last year, but with a reduced parliamentary majority, agreed to step down last year.

Friday's change of guard marks a smooth political transition for the fairly prosperous Southeast Asian nation that has a multi-racial population of 28 million with majority Malay Muslims, about 33 percent ethnic Chinese and eight percent Indians.

Most Indians who came here during the British era are Tamils, while there about 100,000 Sikhs.