Wickremasinghe sworn in as Sri Lanka’s new PM

Colombo, Aug.21 : United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremasinghe was sworn-in Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister for a fourth time on Friday morning by President Maithripala Sirisena.The ceremony was held at the Presidential Secretariat at 9.30 a.m., the Colombo Page web site reports.Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa also attended the ceremony.Wickremasinghe, whose party won the majority of the seats in the parliament at the elections, held on August 17, contested from the Colombo District and secured his victory polling 500,506 votes. It is the highest number of votes polled by a candidate in Sri Lanka’s elections history.Wickremasinghe first entered parliament in 1977. He has also set a record of continuously being a Member of Parliament without losing his seat in parliament for 38 years.He was first appointed as the Prime Minister from 1993 – 1994 after the assassination of former President Ranasinghe Premadasa.He was also elected as the Prime Minister from 2001 – 2004 when the United National Front Government won the parliamentary elections in 2001.President Sirisena appointed him as the Prime Minister in January this year for a third time.