Ranil Wickremesinghe to take oath as Sri Lankan PM

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Ranil Wickremesinghe is all set to regain his Prime Ministerial powers and will be taking oath on Sunday, a senior minister from the United National Party (UNP) confirmed on Friday.

The UNP minister also said President Maithripala Sirisena has settled for the decision to announce Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister of the island nation, Colombo Page reported.

The decision to reinstate Wickremesinghe was reportedly taken after a meeting held by Sirisena with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and Wickremesinghe on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s son Namal confirmed on Friday that the former President would step down as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka “to ensure the stability of the nation”.

“To ensure stability of the nation, Former President @PresRajapaksa has decided to resign from the Premiership tomorrow after an address to the nation. The SLPP with Frm President, SLFP & others will now work to form a broader political coalition with President Sirisena,” Namal had tweeted.

Political turmoil ensued in the island nation after Sirisena, on October 26, abruptly sacked then-Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and instated Rajapaksa, the country’s former President, as the new premier. Sirisena later dissolved Parliament, almost 20 months before its term was to end, and ordered a snap election.

However, the country’s Supreme Court overturned Sirisena’s decision to dissolve Parliament and halted the preparations for snap polls.

On December 3, the Sri Lankan court had issued an interim order against Rajapaksa and his cabinet, barring their functioning. The following day, Rajapaksa filed an appeal against the order.