Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister for the sixth time as the island nation faces political and economic crises. His appointment comes days after Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, vacated the position amid riots triggered by his supporters.
When President Premadasa was assassinated on May 1, 1993, DB Wijetunga became president, and he served his first term as Prime Minister. After the defeat of UNP by the late Prime Minister Bandaranaike’s daughter, Chandrika Bandaranaike. After his defeat, Wicklemesinge became the opposition leader until he returned as Prime Minister in 2000 under President Bandaranaike.
His relationship with the president, a childhood friend but a fierce political enemy, became tense in 2004. Chandrika has taken over some of the critical ministries of the UNP government in Wicklemesinge, including defence. When Wickremesinghe ran for president in 2005, he was slightly defeated by Mahinda Rajapaksa, about 150,000 votes behind. Tamil rebels (Tamil Elam’s Liberation Tigers) have violently prevented Wickle Mesinge from voting in the high-scoring northern and eastern states.
Once again, he became the Leader of the Opposition and has not run for the presidency since. In 2010, he put forward General Sarath Fonseca as his preferred candidate, and in 2015, he entered into a coalition with a different faction of Rajapaksa’s party, with Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) general secretary Maithripala Sirisena as president. 2015.
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The scandal led to a failed government, and three years into the coalition’s administration, the president dismissed Wickremesinghe as prime minister. Critics called the move, which saw Mahinda Rajapaksa back as prime minister for 52 days, a constitutional coup. When the Supreme Court overturned the decision, Wickremesinghe was re-elected as Prime Minister.
During this time, the UNP government made significant progress in economic restructuring with the help of the IMF, and Sri Lanka had a primary account surplus for the first time since 1954. This was primarily accomplished by imposing higher taxes on companies, as well as a safety net. To help low-income persons.
