The 39-year-old Holness took the oath of allegiance to his country in front of about 4,000 people gathered on the lawns of King's House, the residence of Jamaica's governor-general. He became the youngest leader in Jamaica's history and completed a seamless power transition for the governing Jamaica Labor Party, which had been weakened by internal squabbles.
Holness took over from Bruce Golding, who stepped down Sunday after four years as prime minister in which his popularity sagged over his nine-month opposition to a U.S. extradition request for a notorious gang leader in 2009 and 2010. Holness, who had been education minister, will lead the party into general elections that must be held by December 2012.
Golding shocked many Jamaicans when he announced in late September that he would resign once a new party chief was elected, saying that "the last four years have taken their toll and it was appropriate now to make way for new leadership."
Labor Party lawmakers unanimously chose Holness as their party's leader, and he automatically became prime minister.
Holness vowed to "conscientiously and impartially" serve all Jamaicans during an hourlong speech and pledged to ease the island's poverty by increasing access to education, creating meaningful jobs and ending "garrison politics," a reference to populist alliances with gang leaders in vote-rich slums.
"Jamaica is yearning, crying out, for a new politics to emerge," Holness said to applause. "Criminals must never be seen by the community as protectors."
But Holness could face a challenge cutting politicians' ties to such extralegal figures and uniting people fed up with Jamaica's divisive two-party political system. Previous prime ministers, including Golding, have made similar vows.
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