Senior Sri Lankan lawmaker Dinesh Gunawardena was sworn in on Friday as the new prime minister, his office said, a day after the swearing-in of a new president as the Indian Ocean nation grapples with its worst economic crisis in decades. The event came just hours after security forces raided a protest camp on government grounds in the main city of Colombo and cleared part of it, with at least nine arrests, as the new administration moves to crack down on protesters.
A former minister from the Podujana Peramuna party, Gunawardena took the oath of office in the presence of Wickremesinghe, seated in front of uniformed military officers in a room packed with lawmakers and officials. The rest of the cabinet is expected to be sworn in later on Friday.
Sri Lanka’s crisis, the result of economic mismanagement and the fallout of conflict in Ukraine, sparked months of mass protests and eventually forced then president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country. Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency while seeking a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Lloyds Bank customers faced a major app problem after a technical glitch showed other people’s…
Activating your JetBlue Mastercard online is quick and simple. Visit the official activation website, enter…
Activating a US Bank ReliaCard online is quick and simple. Visit the activation website, enter…
Hertz Gold+ is a free car rental loyalty program that lets members earn points from…
The Atmos Summit credit card offers a Global Companion Award that lets cardholders reduce points…
Some users reported Claude AI slowing down or freezing recently. Although the official status shows…