Ranil Wickremesinghe Returns As Sri Lankan Prime Minister Amid Crisis

New Delhi: Sri Lanka’s former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament, on Thursday sworn in as the next premier amidst the worst economic crisis in the debt-ridden island nation. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa administered the oath-taking ceremony.Also Read – Sri Lanka Court Bans Ex-PM Mahinda Rajapaksa, Allies From Leaving Country

Wickremesinghe, who has served as the country’s prime minister four times, was in October 2018 fired from the post of prime minister by then-President Maithripala Sirisena. However, he was reinstalled as the prime minister by Mr Sirisena after two months. Also Read – India Among 30 Odd Countries Where Marital Rape Not Criminalised Yet | Check List Here

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Members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a section of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and several other parties have expressed their support to show a majority for Mr Wickremesinghe in Parliament, according to the reports.

UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena had earlier said that Wickremesinghe will be able to get a majority in Parliament after being sworn in as the new prime minister, replacing Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned on Monday.

The UNP, the oldest party in the country, had won just one seat in the last parliamentary polls in 2020.

In a late-night televised address to the nation, the President on Wednesday refused to quit but promised to appoint a new Prime Minister and a young Cabinet this week which would introduce key constitutional reforms to curb his powers, amid protests over the nation’s worst economic crisis that ousted his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa who is under protection at a naval base following violent attacks on his aides.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which has meant that the country cannot afford to pay for imports of staple foods and fuel, leading to acute shortages and very high prices.