Ranil Wickremesinghe set to take oath as Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister

NEW DELHI: Ranil Wickremesinghe is set to take oath as Sri Lanka’s new PM of a unity government on Tuesday, in what could be music to India’s ears. His United National Party was close to a simple majority in Parliament defeating rival Mahinda Rajapaksa’s party in a closely fought election. The UNP won 11 of the 22 electoral districts with the rival UPFA of which Rajapaksa was part winning eight districts.

Tamil National Alliance (TNA) won the remaining three districts. Rajapaksa who suffered a surprise defeat last January in the presidential polls at the hands of his former minister and incumbent Maithiripala Sirisena made a desperate attempt to return to power as PM, much to discomfort of current Lankan political leadership as well as New Delhi. Although final results were yet to be announced, UNP had won 93 seats while United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) had won 83 seats. The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna won four seats.