Sri Lanka, which is facing economic crisis, has got a new Prime Minister. Ranil Wickremesinghe has returned to power. On Thursday, May 12, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa administered the oath of office to Ranil Wickremesinghe. Everyone knows what the biggest challenge before them is. Wickremesinghe's biggest challenge will be to get Sri Lanka out of the ravine, which is going through all kinds of troubles due to the economic crisis.
Earlier this week, Mahinda Rajapaksa had resigned from the
post of PM. Since then there was speculation as to who would be the next PM of
Sri Lanka. Ranil Wickremesinghe's name was running at the forefront.PM Wickremesinghe taking oath
Who is
Ranil Wickremesinghe?
Ranil Wickremesinghe is the chief of the United National
Party of Sri Lanka. He has had a long political career. Ranil Wickremesinghe,
born on 24 March 1949, studied at the University of Ceylon. Ranil, 73, has
studied law. His first big step in politics was in 1977. Then he was elected as
an MLA for the first time. He has served as a minister in many governments.
Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister for the first time in the early
1990s.
So far, Wickremesinghe has been the Prime Minister of Sri
Lanka 4 times. When Mahinda became the PM in 2020, before that Wickremesinghe
was the PM of Sri Lanka. Apart from this, he has handled many other ministries
including being the Deputy Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Youth and Employment
Minister.
Wickremesinghe is said to be close to the Rajapakse family.
Even though he may belong to a different party, he has been close to Gotabaya
Rajapakse and Mahinda Rajapakse.
Single
party
It will sound very strange to hear this, but the new Prime
Minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremesinghe is the only MP of his party. There
are a total of 225 seats in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Of these, only one is
a member of the United National Party, Ranil Wickremesinghe himself.
Wickremesinghe, a four-time prime minister, was removed as
prime minister by the then President Maithripala Sirisena in October 2018. Then
after two months of political upheaval, Sirisena reinstated him back to this
post.
In April 2019, there were several explosions in Sri Lanka on
Easter Sunday. More than 250 civilians were killed in that attack. At that time
the reins of Sri Lanka were in the hands of Wickremesinghe. After the incident,
serious questions were being raised on the leadership of Wickremesinghe. His
government also had to face a no-confidence motion. Then there were allegations
against the government that even after getting intelligence from India, it
failed to stop the Easter Sunday bombings.
Wickremesinghe is considered a Sri Lankan politician who is
close to India and can mobilize international cooperation. Also, the biggest
reason behind bringing them is being told that their arrival can stabilize the
situation in Sri Lanka. Wickremesinghe is also known as the leader who handled
the economy because of his old policies.
It is believed that Ranil Wickremesinghe has been closer to
India than the pro-Chinese Mahinda Rajapaksa. It is expected that Sri Lanka's
relations with India will be strengthened by his becoming the PM once again.
Sri Lanka is in the worst economic condition in its
independent history. Inflation has touched 30 percent, waiting for a week to
get diesel-petrol. The lack of everything from food to basic medicines has
brought angry citizens to the streets over the past several weeks. Along with
this, this crisis in Sri Lanka has also become a political risk for the
Rajapaksa family.
From last Monday, the political drama there got worse.
Protests intensified, PM Rajapaksa's resignation came. Violence flared up. In
such a situation, the need for a new PM was clearly felt to stabilize the
country. It has to be seen whether the situation in Sri Lanka improves or
worsens in the coming days under the leadership of Wickremesinghe. Read Latest News