Ranil Wickremesinghe takes oath as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister after 2 months of political impasse
Sri Lanka
United National Party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on Sunday, ending a 51-day power tussle in the island nation that had crippled the government.
Wickremesinghe was administered the oath of office by President Maithripala Sirisen at a simple ceremony held at the Presidential Secretariat here.
Wickremesinghe was sworn in around 11:15 am, which was considered as an auspicious time for Wickremesinghe, who took over the post for the fifth time.
His appointment comes hours after former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was appointed Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena, resigned Saturday, paving way for the return of Wickremesinghe as premier.
President Sirisena had sacked Wickremesinghe on October 26, in a controversial move which plunged the island nation into an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
Sirisena agreed to reinstate Minister Wickremesinghe in the post after a discussion with him over the phone on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) has said it is ready to work with President Maithripala Sirisena, who was "misled by some groups" against the unity government.
UNP deputy leader Sajith Premadasa said that he was not surprised that the President had agreed to appoint Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister again despite taking a firm position earlier that he will not appoint Wickremesinghe.
"This showed the true character of the President," he was quoted as saying by the Colombo Gazette.
Premadasa said that the President was "misled by some groups who were against the unity Government" and this resulted in the President removing Wickremesinghe.