Sri Lanka former President Mahinda Rajapaksha on Thursday took oath as the new Prime Minister of the island after incumbent leader Ranil Wickremesinghe formally stepped down from his post.
Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the newly-appointed President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, will function as the prime minister of the caretaker cabinet until the general election in August 2020.
The development comes a day after his predecessor and leader of the formerly ruling United National Party Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned from the post.
The 74-year-old leader, who described himself as “a rebel with a cause”, earlier served as the country’s president from 2005-2015, becoming South Asia’s longest-serving leader. He was also prime minister for a brief period in 2018.
On Wednesday, Gotabaya named his brother’s name as the new incumbent leader of the country after Ranil Wickremesinghe announced his resignation from the post following the election debacle.
Gotabaya was on Monday sworn in as Sri Lanka’s seventh President at an ancient Buddhist temple, a venue chosen to reflect the massive mandate he got from the Sinhalese majority, as he vowed to protect all communities while giving foremost priority to Buddhism.
Gotabaya defeated Wickremesinghe’s deputy Sajith Premadasa.
Rajapaksa was appointed the prime minister on October 26, 2018, by the then President Maithripala Sirisena, who sacked Wickremesinghe in a controversial move that plunged the country into an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
Rajapaksa won power in 2005 and went on to become South Asia’s longest-serving leader. He became the country’s youngest-ever parliamentarian in 1970 at the age of 24.
Mahinda Rajapaksa became the country’s youngest-ever parliamentarian in 1970 at the age of 24.
The two brothers — Rajapaksa and Gotabaya — led a decisive campaign that helped end the island nation’s three-decade-long civil war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
(With inputs from PTI)