Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was sworn-in this afternoon as Malaysia's fifth prime minister to replace Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who stepped down after 22 years in power.

Abdullah took the oath of office at 3.09pm before King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin at at Balai Rong Seri, Istana Negara (national palace) in Kuala Lumpur in a ceremony broadcast live on national television.

Abdullah, 63, takes over from Mahathir, Southeast Asia's longest-serving leader who first announced his decision to retire 16 months ago.

At a brief ceremony that followed, the King also bestowed the highest honorific title in the country - 'Tun"- to both Mahathir and his wife Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali.

After the ceremony the two men travelled separately to the prime minister's office in the new administrative capital of Putrajaya south of Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir to clock out

At 5.06pm, Mahathir clocked out, using the punch card system he introduced for civil servants a month after becoming prime minister in July

On Monday, Abdullah will clock in at 8.15am.

Before that, he will fly to his home state of Penang on Saturday where he will be given a festive welcome by some 20,000 supporters before spending the evening with his mother.

On Sunday, he gets down to work by visiting flood victims in the northern region and handing out aid packages before returning to Kuala Lumpur.

Mahathir has said he is looking forward to his retirement and plans to write his memoirs.

Mahathir's last day as premier was marked both by bouquets and brickbats, as were his two decades in power.

Local newspapers published massive supplements of lavish praise for the outgoing premier, but he was snubbed by Australian Prime Minister John Howard and criticised by the United States congress.

Howard said in a radio interview he had no farewell message for Mahathir, who has regularly dismissed Australia's bid to be accepted as part of Asia, describing it recently as "some sort of transplant from another region".

Mahathir condemned

In Washington, the House of Representatives joined the Senate in condemning Mahathir for his remarks at an Islamic summit in mid-October that Jews rule the world by proxy.

Mahathir acknowledged in one of his final news conferences that his legacy was a controversial one.

Asked how he would like to be remembered, he said he did not mind if he was forgotten, but added: "They will not forget all - as Shakespeare has said, 'the evil that men do lives after them, the good is oft interred with their bones'."

The "good", though, was the focus of today's media tributes, one of which described Mahathir as "the greatest Malaysian alive".

Echoing the grudging acknowledgement of even his critics, the New Straits Times said: "No one can dispute his central accomplishment of transforming Malaysia from an agricultural backwater into a rapidly industrialising economy and manufacturing powerhouse."

Mahathir has been accused by some in the West of being a dictatorial Muslim bigot, but he has run a moderate multi-religious country and stepped down voluntarily with a democratic system, though criticised as flawed, still in place.

Pak Lah's biggest challenge

Abdullah will face general elections within a year, with the hardline Islamic Party (PAS) presenting the biggest challenge to his United Malays National Organisation (Umno), which has been in power since independence.

Mahathir's departure is part of a sweeping political makeover across East Asia, where a new generation of leaders is taking charge and several countries will hold elections within 18 months.

Mahathir, who came to power when Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher led the United States and Britain, outlasted contemporaries like the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Indonesia's ousted strongman Suharto, 82, and Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, 80.

Abdullah will join a different breed of younger leaders exemplified by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 54, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, 56, and Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, 56.

The most obvious change in Malaysia, however, will be one of style rather than substance. Abdullah is not expected to make any radical changes to Mahathir's economic and social policies, at least in the short term, but he is quieter and less confrontational than his predecessor. - AFP