Sri Lanka crisis live updates | Colombo hopes to revive economy with new leadership

Here are the latest updates on the ongoing political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka

Senior politician and staunch Rajapaksa loyalist Dinesh Gunawardena on Friday became the third Prime Minister to lead Sri Lanka in the last three months, amid political turbulence sparked by a worsening economic crisis.

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Mr. Gunawardena and an 18-member “continuity Cabinet” was sworn in on Friday morning, in the presence of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected to the country’s top office through a parliamentary vote earlier this week. While most Ministers were part of the last Cabinet under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mr. Wickremesinghe will hold the Defence and Finance portfolios. Ali Sabry, who was earlier Justice and Finance Minister, will now head the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

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The Prime Minister and the all-male Cabinet were sworn in hours after a pre-dawn military raid at Colombo’s main anti-government agitation site, in which at least nine persons, including activists, journalists and lawyers, were brutally assaulted by soldiers, despite protesters promising to vacate the area by Friday 2 p.m.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday congratulated Ranil Wickremesinghe on his election as Sri Lankan President and offered to provide support as “his capacity allows” to Colombo, amid Beijing’s concerns over billions of dollars of Chinese investments and defaulted loans in the economically bankrupt island nation.

In his message to Mr. Wickremesinghe, President Xi said “he attaches great importance to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations and would like to provide support and assistance as his capacity allows to Mr. Wickremesinghe and the Sri Lankan people,” state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.