Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe thanked PM Modi for India’s help amid the Sri Lankan crisis (File)
Colombo:
Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said he looks forward to closer ties with India during his tenure and thanked India for the economic assistance to the country as it tackles the worst economic crisis since independence.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, 73, was on Thursday sworn in as the 26th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in a bid to stabilize the country’s debt-ridden economy and end political turmoil.
“I want a close relationship and I want to thank Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi,” Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said, referring to Indian economic aid to his country.
His statement came during a religious function held here last night after taking oath.
India has committed over USD 3 billion to indebted Sri Lanka in loans, lines of credit and credit swaps since January this year.
India on Thursday said it looks forward to working with the new Sri Lankan government formed in accordance with democratic procedures and that New Delhi’s commitment to the people of the island nation will continue.
The 73-year-old United National Party (UNP) leader took over as prime minister as the country has not been in government since Monday, when Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi after violence erupted after the attack. as resigned. Anti-government protests by his supporters.
The attack triggered widespread violence against Rajapaksa loyalists, killing nine people and injuring more than 200.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said his focus was limited to tackling the economic crisis.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said, “I want to solve this problem by ensuring the supply of petrol, diesel and electricity to the people.”
Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. The crisis is partly due to a lack of foreign exchange, meaning the country cannot pay for imports of staple foods and fuels, leading to an acute economic crisis. Scarcity and very high prices.
“I will do what I set out to do”.
Asked if he can retain his prime ministership in the 225-member parliament as he has only one seat, he said: “I will prove my majority when it comes”.
Referring to the island-wide protest, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe said the main protest, which has been going on for more than a month near President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s secretariat, would be allowed to continue.
“I will talk to them (protesters) if they are willing,” he said.
Asked whether he feared opposition to the demand for his resignation, he said he would face them.
“If I can work to deal with the economic crisis, I will handle it too,” he said.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister as the main opposition collective Jana Balvegaya (SJB) party and the third largest party Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) attached difficult circumstances such as President Rajapaksa’s resignation to lead the interim government. Was.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe heads an interim government in which all political parties must be stakeholders for a limited period of time before parliamentary elections are facilitated.
Sources said the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), a section of the main opposition SJB and several other parties have expressed their support for Ranil Wickremesinghe to show a majority in Parliament.
However, several factions opposed the move to appoint Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new Prime Minister.
The JVP and the Tamil National Alliance claimed that his appointment was unconstitutional.
The veteran politician is seen as close to the Rajapaksa clan. But he does not have much support among the opposition or the public at present. It remains to be seen whether he can prove his majority in the 225-member Parliament. “We will give them a place,” said Veerasumana Veerasinghe of the Communist Party.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party party said its central committee would meet this morning and take a decision.
The Ceylon Workers’ Congress, the trade union cum political party for the Indian-origin plantation community, said they would support Prime Minister Wickremesinghe.
Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis has sparked widespread protests calling for political reform and the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
On 1 April, President Rajapaksa imposed a state of emergency, lifting it five days later. The government re-imposed a state of emergency on May 6, which was postponed until May 17, after police fired tear gas and arrested students protesting near Parliament.
Although the protests have been exceedingly peaceful, police fatally shot a protester on 19 April, and used tear gas and water cannons against the protesters on several occasions. The government has made several arrests and repeatedly imposed curfews.
The political crisis began in late March when people hurt by prolonged power cuts and essential shortages took to the streets demanding the government’s resignation.
President Rajapaksa dismissed his cabinet and appointed a youth cabinet in response to demands for his resignation. There has been a continuous sit-in in front of his secretariat for more than a month.
On Monday, his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned as prime minister to find a way for the president to appoint an interim all political party government.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)