Guwahati: Ranil Wickremesinghe took oath as the President of Sri Lanka on Thursday, July 21.
Ranil Wickremesinghe became Sri Lanka’s ninth President after winning the Presidential poll on Wednesday, July 20. He raked in 134 votes.
Sri Lankan Parliament elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as the Island nation’s 9th president. After Gotbaya Rajapaksa was forced to resign following widespread protest over the ongoing economic crisis in the island nation.
73-year-old Ranil will continue the former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s remaining term. Ranil succeeded Gotabaya Rajapaksa (8th President of Sri Lanka) who fled the country and resigned after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.
Right after winning the election on Wednesday, he addressed the speaker and sought permission from the Speaker to take oath outside the Parliament chamber within the Parliament complex. He assured the Opposition that he would work with all parties to bail Sri Lanka out of the unprecedented economic crisis.
Ranil is elected by the top members of parliament, but not by the people, and due to these thousands of Sri Lankans are staging a massive protest against the newly elected President.
Sri Lanka is facing the worst economic crisis in the country in 73 years.