Dinesh Gunawardena, Sri Lanka presidents schoolmate, to be next PM Report

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Dinesh Gunawardena, Sri Lanka president's schoolmate, to be next PM: Report

In Reports
11:00 PM, Jul 21, 2022
Myind Staff

Dinesh Chandra Rupasinghe Gunawardena, born 2 March 1949, has been sworn in as the Minister of Public administration by the newly elected Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Gunawardena, 73, was Wickremesinghe's old schoolmate at the Royal College of Colombo and a strong Rajapaksa loyalist.

President Wickremesinghe is set to appoint his new cabinet on Friday, a day after he was sworn into Sri Lanka's highest office following mass protests that forced predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.

Dinesh Gunawardena is the current leader of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) which translates to People's United Front. MEP is a left-wing political party in Sri Lanka founded in 1959. Amidst the economic crisis, he was appointed as the Minister of Home Affairs on the 18th of April 2022 by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Furthermore, Gunawardena also enjoys major party support in the Parliament. According to Daily News, SLPP Parliamentarian, Sisira Jayakody, had said that Leader of the House and Public Administration and Home Affairs Minister Dinesh Gunawardena should be made Acting Prime Minister as per the Constitution.

Sri Lanka's six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was set to be sworn in as president Thursday, with officials saying he would set up an all-party unity cabinet to confront the country's economic crisis. Wickremesinghe, who was overwhelmingly elected as head of state in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday, took his oath of office with the country's police chief and top military brass standing behind him.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, who supported a rival candidate in Wednesday's vote, said he had met with Wickremesinghe to discuss how to protect the country from further "misery and disaster".

"We as an opposition will provide our constructive support for efforts to alleviate human suffering," Premadasa tweeted Thursday.

A foreign exchange crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbated by mismanagement has left Sri Lanka suffering lengthy power blackouts and record-high inflation.

Image source: Reuters

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