Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the Eighth Executive President of Sri Lanka before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Parliamentary Complex yesterday.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, Member of Parliament Dullas Alahapperuma, First Lady Prof. Maithree Wickremesinghe and many Ministers and Members of Parliament were present.
A secret ballot was held on Wednesday (20) to elect a succeeding President to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the succeeding President having received 134 votes.
He started his political career as the chief organizer of the United National Party in the Kelaniya constituency in the mid 1970s and was later appointed as the chief organizer of the Biyagama constituency. In 1977, he was elected as a Member of Parliament for the first time and was the youngest Cabinet Minister in the J.R. Jayewardene Government where he held the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment.
He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs at the age of 28, and later served as the Cabinet Minister for Youth Affairs, Education and Industry, Science and Technology.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe who also served as the Leader of the House between March 06, 1989 and May 07, 1993, also served as the Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2015.
He was first elected as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on May 7, 1993 and held that position until August 19, 1994. Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the second time from December 9, 2001 to April 2, 2004, for the third time from January 9, 2015 to August 21, 2015, for the fourth time from August 24, 2015 to October 26, 2018, for the fifth time from December 16, 2018 to November 21, 2019 and for the sixth time from May 12, 2022 to July 20, 2022.
by Daily News Sri Lanka
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