Who is Ranil Wickremesinghe? Sri Lanka’s new prime minister

Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new prime minister of Sri Lanka amid economic & political crisis. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa submitted his resignation to the president on Monday after protests erupted across the country. It was the demand of the protestors that PM Rajapaksa should resign from his chair. Ranil Wickremesinghe took oath at a ceremony in the presence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Born in 1949, Ranil hailed from a powerful family. His uncle Junius Jayewardene was the 2nd president of Sri Lanka. Ranil is a lawyer by profession. At the age of 28, he was elected to the parliament in 1977. He was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ranil is the chief of the United National Party since 1994 & he is also the sole representative of his party in the parliament. In 1993, after the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated by an extremist faction Wickremesinghe was appointed as the prime minister.

In 2001, Ranil again rose to power but was sacked due to a tussle with the president. He again became prime minister in 2015 after the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa. He was seen as an ideal candidate who united the opposition. Later on, his image got tarnished after his involvement in an insider trading scam.

From being appointed as prime minister several times to losing presidential elections this is Sri Lanka’s new prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.