Colombo: Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Thursday back as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the sixth time, albeit under completely different circumstances compared to his previous stints.
With the island nation facing its worst economic and political crisis, the 73-year-old Wickremesinghe was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who had assured the nation a day earlier that he would form a new government within a week in a bid to steer the country out of troubled waters.
The President’s brother, Mahinda Rajakapsa, resigned as PM on Monday when violent clashes broke out between government backers and anti-government protesters, leaving nine people dead and more than 200 injured.
Armoured vehicles and troops have been deployed in Colombo and security forces have been ordered to shoot people deemed to be participating in the violence.
