Ranil Wickremesinghe to be sworn-in as Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister; Mahinda Rajapaksa, 16 others barred from travelling overseas
Zee News
Vacated after the controversial resignation of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Ranil Wickremesinghe is to take up the premiership for the record sixth time in the island nation.
Colombo: Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will take oath as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on Thursday. The oath will be taken before President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at 6 pm local time, according to an IANS report.
The news of the appointment of Wickremesinghe comes a day after his discussion with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. It is, however, not yet clear as to how Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP), now limited to just one seat out of 225 MPs, could command the majority.
Vacated after the controversial resignation of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Wickremesinghe is to take up the premiership for the record sixth time in the island nation.
On Wednesday night, while addressing the nation President Gotabaya announced that a new PM and a government would be replaced for the positions vacated by his brother Mahinda and his government.
Gotabaya also said that he would work on reintroducing the 19th Amendment stripping powers of the Executive President which he himself enjoys and giving many powers to Parliament. He also agreed to abolish the Presidential system. Rajapaksa said the new government would be run by a Prime Minister who can command the majority in Parliament.
