Colombo: Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP)’s Dinesh Gunawardena has been appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on Friday. Gunawardena took oath as the new Prime Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office on Flower Road, Colombo today, ANI said in a tweet. The new Prime Minister, son of late Philip Gunawardena, known as the father of socialism in Sri Lanka, is a close confidante of former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Meanwhile, President Ranil Wickremesinghe is also slated to appoint his new cabinet on Friday, a day after he was sworn into Sri Lanka’s highest office following mass protests that forced predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign, according to a report on Reuters. 73-year-old Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday elected as Sri Lanka’s President by lawmakers and sworn in on Thursday as the 8th president, days after former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and then resigned. The anti-government protesters, who succeeded in forcing the powerful Rajapaksa family to leave their official positions amidst the unprecedented economic crisis, are also demanding Wickremesinghe’s resignation as he is seen as close to Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
