Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the sixth time. However, the 73 year old has not completed even a single full term in office. He is the sole parliamentary representative of the United National Party and he offered to helm a unity administration in order to help the country to steer clear of the crippling economic crisis it is currently going through.
Ranil is a lawyer who hails from a political family. His uncle Junius Jayewardene served as President of Sri Lanka for more than a decade. His family was in the newspaper business but it was nationalized by the government in 1973.
Ranil was first appointed PM in 1993 after the assassination of President Ranasinghe Premadasa who was killed in a bomb attack by Tamil Tiger guerillas during the Sri Lanka civil war. His first term lasted for little more than a year. Ranil will now replace Mahinda Rajapaksa who resigned after his supporters attacked anti-government demonstrators.
