Sri Lanka’s new President Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to swear in his Cabinet on Friday comprising members of the previous government, including Dinesh Gunewardena who will be the next prime minister.
The previous Cabinet will function till a national government is agreed upon once Parliament convenes and then a Cabinet reshuffle will take place.
Wickremesinghe, 73, who was on Thursday sworn in as the country’s eighth president after he won a parliamentary ballot, has called for bipartisanship to address the unprecedented economic crisis the country is facing.
The Leader of the House in the Sri Lankan Parliament 73-year-old Gunewardena will be the new prime minister. He was appointed as Home Minister in April by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
A stalwart of Sri Lankan politics, Gunawardena has also served as the foreign minister and education minister.
Officials said Wickremesinghe would try to form an all-party government to overcome the current economic crisis, the worst since the country’s independence in 1948.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister, was elected by lawmakers on Wednesday, in a rare move that could provide continuity for crucial discussions with the IMF for a bailout deal for the cash-strapped nation.
Wickremesinghe will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024.
Meanwhile, a group of protesters who had camped opposite the prime minister’s official residence since April end, said they were ending the protest.
“There was a debate that we should respect the Constitution and stop this protest,” a spokesman for the group said.
However, the main protest group which had camped blocking the entry to the President’s Office since April 9, said they would continue their struggle till Wickremesinghe resigned.
“Our victory would come only when we are able to form the people’s Assembly,” Lahiru Weerasekera, a spokesman for the group said.
Wickremesinghe told reporters that he intends to take legal action against those who continue to occupy the President’s Office.
Wickremesinghe said he would extend support to the peaceful protesters but would be tough on those who try to promote violence in the guise of peaceful protests.
Meanwhile, tense scenes were reported from the Galle Face protest site during the early hours of Friday after a large military contingent swooped in the area.
Colombo’s Galle Face is the epicentre of protests that rocked the country as the economic and political crisis hit Sri Lanka.
Troops were seen detaining individuals and also dismantling the protest site, the Daily Mirror newspaper said.
Rajapaksa was forced to flee the country on July 9 when a popular uprising due to his mishandling of the economy dealt the final blow. After holding on since April despite the massive protests, Rajapaksa resigned in exile in Singapore.
