Political veteran Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has served as Sri Lanka’s prime minister five times, has been reappointed to quell escalating unrest fueled by the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.
Wickremesinghe, 73, was sworn in as the country’s prime minister for the sixth time on Thursday, replacing Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned on Monday following violent protests triggered by his supporters.
Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, praised Wickremesinghe for stepping up to the challenge of steering the nation “through a very turbulent time,” and said that he looks forward to working with the new prime minister.
https://twitter.com/GotabayaR/status/1524755715990048768
Wickremesinghe is the leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP). His first stint as Sri Lanka’s prime minister was in 1993 after President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated by a suicide bomber, which the government blamed on Tamil Tiger guerrillas.
“[British Prime Minister Winston Churchill] had only four members with him back in 1939. How did he become prime minister? Because there was a crisis. I have done the same,” Wickremesinghe told reporters.
The new prime minister also stated that citizen protests should be allowed to continue without interference from the police.
Thousands of Sri Lankans have taken to the streets to protest the government’s mishandling of the country’s economic crisis, calling for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and all his cabinet members.
Defense Secretary Gen. Kamal Gunaratne said Wednesday that more than 130 residences and 41 vehicles, including police cars, were burned and “completely destroyed” by protesters after the nationwide curfew was imposed.
“One vehicle only had a driver and ASP [assistant superintendent of police]. They were forced out and the ASP was beaten before the vehicle was torched,” Gunaratne said.
Sri Lanka is on the verge of bankruptcy, with its foreign exchange reserves plummeting by 70 percent over the past two years, leaving it struggling to pay for essential imports.