Ranil Wickremesinghe takes oath

Colombo. Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe took the oath of office on Thursday. After the oath, he expressed his resolve to bring changes in the system of governance and told the countrymen that he is not a friend of the Rajapaksa family, but a friend of the people. Ranil Wickremesinghe became the Prime Minister in May in Sri Lanka, which is facing severe economic crisis. Later he had to resign due to public protests. But now he has been elected President by the vote of MPs.

He now has a big responsibility in this new role to handle the country’s economy, remove economic turmoil and reunite a divided country. Wickremesinghe has been in Parliament for 45 years and is known to work with every party. It is being told that Dinesh Gunawardene can become the new Prime Minister of the country. Both of them have to hold power till the 2024 elections.

Wickremesinghe was made acting president after Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country and resigned from the presidency. He is the first President of Sri Lanka, elected by the Parliament according to the Constitution. However, after Wickremesinghe’s victory, many anti-government protesters consider him close to the previous Rajapaksa government and are also demonstrating against him. Soon after Wickremesinghe was elected President, hundreds of protesters had gathered from place to place. Only after this Wickremesinghe said- How am I an old friend of the Rajapaksa family? I have been opposing them. He said- I am not a friend of the Rajapaksa family, I am a friend of the people.