Ranil Wickremesinghe is born on March 24, 1949. He is a Sri Lankan politician, the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and a member of the Parliament
He has been the leader of the United National Party since 1994. Before that, he served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993 to 1994, from 2001 to 2004, from 2015 to 2018, from 2018 to 2019, and as leader of the opposition from 1994 to 2001. From 2004 to 2015.
Born into a wealthy and political family, he graduated from the University of Ceylon and obtained his attorney’s license at Ceylon Law College in 1972. In the mid-1970s, he entered politics as a member of the United National Party.
He was the first elected as a member of Parliament by the Biyagama voters in the 1977 general election. His uncle, President J. R. Jayewardene, appointed him as Deputy Foreign Minister.
He was then appointed Minister of Youth and Employment, making him the youngest cabinet minister in Sri Lanka.
In 1989, President Ranasinghe Premadasa appointed Wickremesinghe as Minister of Industry, Science and Technology and leader of the House of Representatives.
President D. B. Wijetunga appointed him as Prime Minister following the 1993 assassination of Premadasa and succeeded President Wijetunga.
He was appointed Opposition Leader in November 1994 after the assassination of Gamini Dissanayake during the 1994 presidential campaign.
On January 8, 2015, Wickremesinghe was appointed Prime Minister by President Maithripala Sirisena. he defeated President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election.
He supported the United Alliance, United National Front for Good Governance, and it won the 2015 general election with 106 seats.
However, Wickremesinghe was re-elected Prime Minister with over 35 Sri Lanka Liberal Party members joining the cabinet.
But he was removed from the post by President Maithripala Sirisena on 26 October 2018 and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa was appointed as the Prime Minister. But Wickremesinghe refused to accept it, leading to a constitutional crisis.
The constitutional crisis ended on December 16, 2018, when Sirisena reappointed Wickremesinghe as Prime Minister.
He stepped down as Prime Minister on 20 November 2019 and, following the 2019 presidential election, Mariinda Rajapaksa succeeded as Prime Minister again.
He ran for the next general election in 2020 but failed to secure a seat in Parliament. He re-entered the Parliament as MP of the People’s
List of the United National Party and took office on June 23, 2021, as a member of the Parliament.
The new appointments as the prime minister?
After Sri Lanka faced a huge political and economic crisis Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
The news that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the new Prime Minister has been greatly disappointed and distrusted in Sri Lanka.
His appointment is seen as another arrogant response from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to weeks of protests over price hikes and essential shortages.
Mr. Wickremesinghe appears close to the Rajapaksa family and many believe he was chosen because he has the potential to ensure their safety.
The protests started in the capital Colombo in early April and have grown in scale and spread across the country. People are outraged when the cost of living can’t be met, and the unrest has killed nine people.
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