Who is Ranil Wickremesinghe, the all-weather Sri Lankan politician who became its president

• Shubham
• 20 July, 2022

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By: Shubham Ghosh

RANIL Wickremesinghe, a veteran political leader of Sri Lanka, was on Wednesday (20) elected as the ninth president of the crisis-ravaged nation by its parliament, succeeding Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled last week after protests across the country took a extreme form.

Wickremesinghe, 73, was the prime minister of Sri Lanka before taking over as the president and thanked the parliament over his election. A lawyer by profession, Wickremesinghe secured 134 votes in the 225-member parliament, beating his two rivals by quite some margin.

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The man, who has served as the prime minister of Sri Lanka for six terms since 1993. He has also run for the president’s post in the past twice but was unsuccessful. However, his past efforts saw him secure enough votes among the lawmakers despite controlling just one seat as the leader of the United National Party. Wickremesinghe has served as minister in a number of governments since 1977 when he was only 28 and has also been the opposition leader for many years.

Born in Colombo to Esmond Wickremesinghe and Nalini Wijewardena in 1949, Wickremesinghe has been an all-weather politician of the island-nation whose vast experience in the government and reputation of a shrewd operator makes him a trusted leader when it comes to steering Sri Lanka out of its current economic mess.

“Our country is facing massive challenges and we have to work on a new strategy to fulfil aspirations of the people,” Wickremesinghe, who has studied in Lanka and received an honorary doctorate from Australia, said after winning the vote in parliament.

The leader has a working relationship with Sri Lanka’s key donor countries, including India.

Wickremesinghe, who is married to academic Maitree Wickremesinghe, recently negotiated with the International Monetary Fund after declaring a state of emergency in Sri Lanka after Rajapaksa fled. He  also gazetted orders for a state of emergency in the country to tackle the continuing unrest.