Ranil Wickremesinghe has been sworn in as Sri Lankan prime minister for the sixth time as the island nation faces political and economic crises. His appointment comes days after Mahinda Rajapaksa, brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, vacated the position amid riots triggered by his supporters.
Wickremesinghe, 73, is the scion of an elite family whose roots go back to pre-independence Sri Lanka, where his maternal grandfather DR Wijewardena published a series of newspapers supporting the independence movement. His paternal grandfather, CG Wickremesinghe, was the most senior Sri Lankan colonial government servant.
