Six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has on Thursday been sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new President in a heavily guarded proceeding in the country’s parliament.
Mr. Ranil was sworn in by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya before taking oath as the country’s new President clouded by the high cost of living and demonstrations.
“Sri Lanka’s six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as president of the crisis-hit nation on Thursday. Wickremesinghe took his oath of office before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the tightly-guarded parliament complex,” said CGTN Africa
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The events leading to the swearing-in of the new President saw thousands of Sri Lankans take to the streets to demonstrate the unbearable rise in the cost of living before taking over the official residence of then President Mahinda Rajapaksa.
Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to fly out of the country as pressure mounted on the Prime Minister to also resign in what was termed as a failure of the government to cushion its citizens.
The former President boarded a plane to Maldive where he applied for asylum in Singapore before flying into the country to allow tension to cool off.