While Sri Lanka’s former PM Mahinda Rajapaksa remains at an undisclosed location as anti-government protests boil over the island nation, the country is set to get a new Prime Minister.
The crisis-stricken country will now welcome Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister. The United National Party (UNP) Chief takes charge two days after former PM Rajapaksa quits his post.
The ongoing protests have pushed Sri Lanka to face its worst economic crisis. The country is going through a lot, from hours-long power blackouts to unsurmountable food shortages.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa hasn’t said a word about vacating his post. He announced that he will appoint a new Prime Minister and cabinet within a week to take the country ahead.
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He further said, “A constitutional amendment will be moved to enact the content of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which will vest more powers with the parliament. The new government's Prime Minister will be awarded the opportunity to produce a new program and take this country forward.”
Let us tell you more about Wickremesinghe, who is the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
- Wickremesinghe has held the position of Prime Minister four times in the past. He was first appointed as the Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena in 2015. At that time, Sirisena had defeated Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election.
- Sri Lanka’s deteriorating economic status during that time led the then President Sirisena to fire Wickremesinghe in October 2018. After that, Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as the Prime Minister. This decision was challenged by Wickremesinghe and it ended up in creating a constitutional crisis. Thereafter, Wickremesinghe was reinstated as the Prime Minister by December 2018.
- The bombings in 2019’s Easter Sunday had severely shaken the country and voters were divided once again. So, they re-elected the Rajapaksas and Wickremesinghe had to resign as the Prime Minister on November 2019.
- Despite a lot of back and forth, Wickremesinghe is once again Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister, although as an interim measure for six months at most.
- As per reports, Wickremesinghe is considered to be someone who can draw international cooperation and help Sri Lanka cross over the current economic chaos.
