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Who is Ranil Wickremesinghe?
Wickremesinghe was born into a political family in the capital Colombo on March 24, 1949, to Press Baron, Esmond Wickremesinghe and Nalini Wickremesinghe. He completed his schooling at Royal Preparatory School and graduated from the Faculty of Law, the University of Ceylon (now the University of Colombo). He is married to Maithree Wickremesinghe, an academic and a professor at the University of Kelaniya.
Career
Wickremesinghe started his career as an advocate in 1972. He joined UNP, the oldest political party in Sri Lanka in the mid-1970s and won his first parliamentary poll in 1977. He was appointed the Minister of Youth Affairs & Employment and was the youngest cabinet minister in the country.
He was sworn in as Sri Lankan Prime Minister in May 1983, after associating with then president Ranasinghe Premadasa, and held the post till August 1989. The 73-year-old has held the PM's post six times, but has never completed a full term.
He was the leader of the Opposition when UNP lost the parliamentary election to the People's Alliance (PA) party in 1994. He again served as the leader of the Opposition from 2004 to 2015.
Wickremesinghe was sworn in as PM for the second time in 2001 and held the position till 2004. During his tenure, the country's foreign policy called for better ties with the west and his government held several rounds of peace talks with separatist group LTTE, and even entered a three-month ceasefire agreement in 2002.
UNP-led common candidate Maithripala Sirisena won the 2015 Sri Lankan Presidential election and Wickremesinghe was appointed as PM for the third time till 2018. In his tenure, Wickremesinghe proposed several economic reforms including a knowledge-based social market economy, Special economic zones, state-owned enterprises, and special financial and business hubs.
Wickremesinghe held the PM's post three more times after UNP's 2018 electoral loss, with the latest being just weeks before his appointment as President. In May 2022, Wickremesinghe was appointed PM after Mahinda Rajapaksha was forced to resign following Sri Lanka's worst-ever economic crisis.
The mass protests due to the highest-ever levels of inflation in the island nation, scarcity of basic commodities such as fuel, food, etc and large-scale unemployment forced President Gotabaya Rajpaksha to flee and send his resignation from overseas.
Following this, Wickremesinghe was appointed as the eighth president of the nation on July 21.
Latest Updates on Ranil Wickremesinghe
A high-level Indian delegation called on Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe here on Sunday and briefed him on the developments in the jointly-identified priority areas for collaboration
President Ranil Wickremesinghe told Parliament that the IMF bailout had restored Sri Lanka's international recognition, ending the image of bankruptcy and helping the local banks
The trade unions of doctors, ports, banks, electricity and teachers observed a day-long strike with the hope to convert it to a continuous protest action
President Ranil Wickremesinghe said that he will go ahead with the devolution of powers within a united Sri Lanka and continue with his unpopular decisions to ensure that the country recovered
Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Sunday said he is fixing the debt-ridden country's economy by treating the "root cause" of the malaise and not by administering painkillers
In his message, Wickremesinghe said: Our 75th anniversary of independence from colonial rule is being observed during an extremely critical and challenging time in the country
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had projected the 2022 growth to be minus 8 per cent
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The IMF bailout has been put on a halt as Sri Lanka pursues talks with creditors to meet the global lender's condition for the facility
President Ranil Wickremesinghe said last year that military strategy reforms were needed to gear the island's army to face new challenges
Wickremesinghe urges public servants to work overtime 'to make cash-strapped island a prosperous nation this year'
Wickremesinghe, who also holds the Finance portfolio, presented Sri Lanka's development programme associated with the economic recovery and growth
President Ranil Wickremesinghe has acknowledged that there was no point in economic reforms in Sri Lanka because the cash-starved island nation didn't have an economy
The meeting will be held at the Colombo residence of R Sampanthan, the 89-year-old leader of the Tamil National Alliance, sources in the party said
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday rejected the opposition's demand for early parliamentary elections and vowed to use the military to crush any future anti-govt protests
Wickremesinghe said it was regrettable that the trilateral agreement with India and Japan to develop the ECT was scrapped
Wickremesinghe said that the government will appoint a committee to seek how best to integrate the Tamils of Hill Country origin further into the Sri Lankan society.
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Monday expressed grief over a bridge collapse in Gujarat's Morbi city and extended his condolences to the victims and their families.
Sri Lanka has started debt restructuring talks with the IMF, India and China, President Ranil Wickremesinghe said, exuding confidence that discussions will help the country overcome economic crisis
Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe issued an extraordinary gazette on Saturday, revoking last week's order that declared several key locations in Colombo as high security zones