Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister

Colombo: Ranil Wickremesinghe was today sworn in as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister for the fourth time following his party’s victory in the parliamentary polls, as the country’s two major political parties signed a power- sharing deal to form a national unity government.

Wickremesinghe’s victory in Monday’s election thwarted a political comeback by the country’s former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, months after he lost the presidential polls to President Maithripala Sirisena.

The swearing in ceremony was held inside the premises of the Presidential Secretariat at 9:30 AM. President Sirisena administered the oath of office to 66-year-old Wickremesinghe, who has already served three times as the prime minister.

Immediately after the swearing in ceremony, the two main parties — Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) and Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) — sealed a Memorandum of Understanding which paved the way for the setting up of a national unity government.