Senior politician and staunch Rajapaksa loyalist Dinesh Gunawardena on Friday became the third Prime Minister to lead Sri Lanka in the last three months, amid political turbulence sparked by a worsening economic crisis.
Mr. Gunawardena and an 18-member “continuity Cabinet” was sworn in on Friday morning, in the presence of President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected to the country’s top office through a parliamentary vote earlier this week. While most Ministers were part of the last Cabinet under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Mr. Wickremesinghe will hold the Defence and Finance portfolios. Ali Sabry, who was earlier Justice and Finance Minister, will now head the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The Prime Minister and the all-male Cabinet were sworn in hours after a pre-dawn military raid at Colombo’s main anti-government agitation site, in which at least nine persons, including activists, journalists and lawyers, were brutally assaulted by soldiers, despite protesters promising to vacate the area by Friday 2 p.m.
