Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as the new Siri Lanka President after Gotabaya Rajapaksa forcefully resigned due to the economic crisis in the country. the tightly-guarded 73-year-old took his oath at parliament complex on Thursday morning.
Ranil Wickremesinghe has been the prime minister of the country six times and the citizens hope that his position as president will help the country come out of the economic crisis it is going through.
“I am not a friend of the Rajapaksas. I am a friend of the people,” he told reporters on Wednesday after defeating his main rival – a dissident SLPP MP – by 134 votes to 82.
Mr Wickremesinghe is aiming to restore political stability so the country can resume negotiations with the International Monetary fund for a bailout package, estimated to be about $3bn accordind to BBCs site.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew to the Maldives and then Singapore after hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters came out onto the streets of Colombo a week ago and occupied his official residence and offices.
