SRI LANKA CRISIS – Wickremesinghe takes oath as president of a country in peril
Get real time updates directly on you device, subscribe now.
Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe took the oath of office as president of Sri Lanka on Thursday, beginning an onerous journey toward the island country’s economic recovery.
Wickremesinghe was sworn in in the parliament complex in Colombo, a day after he won a parliamentary ballot. He received 134 votes in the 225-member house.
The lawmakers elected a new president after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country amid worsening public unrest over an economic crisis that triggered crippling shortages of essential imports like fuel, medicine, and food.
He will rule the country until 2024, finishing the term of the current parliament.
(…)