AGL 38.54 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (2.58%)
AIRLINK 129.50 Decreased By ▼ -3.00 (-2.26%)
BOP 5.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.53%)
CNERGY 3.86 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (2.39%)
DCL 8.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.58%)
DFML 41.76 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (1.85%)
DGKC 88.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.86 (-2.06%)
FCCL 35.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.23%)
FFBL 67.35 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (1.28%)
FFL 10.61 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (4.53%)
HUBC 108.76 Increased By ▲ 2.36 (2.22%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.26%)
KOSM 6.95 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.46%)
MLCF 41.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.36%)
NBP 59.60 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (1.74%)
OGDC 183.00 Increased By ▲ 1.75 (0.97%)
PAEL 26.25 Increased By ▲ 0.55 (2.14%)
PIBTL 5.97 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (2.4%)
PPL 146.70 Decreased By ▼ -1.70 (-1.15%)
PRL 23.61 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1.68%)
PTC 16.56 Increased By ▲ 1.32 (8.66%)
SEARL 68.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.71%)
TELE 7.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.14%)
TOMCL 35.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.14%)
TPLP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (6.08%)
TREET 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.28%)
TRG 50.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.79%)
UNITY 26.75 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (1.33%)
WTL 1.21 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 9,806 Increased By 37.8 (0.39%)
BR30 29,678 Increased By 278.1 (0.95%)
KSE100 92,304 Increased By 366.3 (0.4%)
KSE30 28,840 Increased By 96.6 (0.34%)

COLOMBO: New Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will appoint an ally of the ousted Rajapaksa dynasty as prime minister, four sources said on Thursday, a day after urging unity to find a way out of the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.

Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, succeeded Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled Sri Lanka and resigned from his post last week after mass protests over his handling of the economy. A swearing-in ceremony was conducted in parliament on Thursday.

He is expected to appoint Dinesh Gunewardena, a former foreign and education minister, as prime minister along with a new cabinet on Friday, the sources, close to Wickremesinghe and Gunewardena, said.

The country of 22 million people has been crippled by a lack of foreign currency, triggering shortages of fuel, food and medicines as prices soar.

Inflation hit an annual 59% in June, according to the statistics department.

Sri Lanka swears in new president amid worst economic crisis in decades

Protesters succeeded in removing Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, ex-premier Mahinda Rajapaksa, but many want Wickremesinghe and others they see as allies of the family gone too.

Sri Lanka received fresh diesel supplies over the weekend, and the main state-run distributor, Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, will restart sales under a new rationing system from Thursday, the power and energy ministry said.

The protest movement that pushed out Rajapaksa - the first sitting Sri Lankan president to quit office - remained largely muted, despite Wickremesinghe’s unpopularity among some sections of the population.

Only a handful of people were present outside the presidential secretariat on Thursday, a colonial-era building that was stormed by protesters this month along with the president’s and prime minister’s official residences.

But some have vowed to fight on against Wickremesinghe.

“We won’t give up because what the country needs is a total system change,” said Pratibha Fernando, a protester at the secretariat. “We want to get rid of these corrupted politicians, so that’s what we are doing.”

Hours after winning the parliamentary vote on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe appeared to distance himself from the Rajapaksa family that dominated politics in Sri Lanka for decades.

Outgoing Sri Lankan president lands in Singapore after fleeing uprising

“I am not a friend of the Rajapaksas. I am a friend of the people,” he told reporters after praying at a Buddhist temple.

Wickremesinghe, who served as prime minister and finance minister under Rajapaksa, has been involved in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bail out package worth up to $3 billion.

Sri Lanka is also looking for assistance from neighbouring India, China and other international partners.

Comments

Comments are closed.