Who is Ranil Wickremesinghe, the man Sri Lanka is counting upon?

The interesting aspect of 73-year-old Ranil Wickremesinghe's appointment is that he has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament.

Image: Ranil Wickremesinghe being administered the oath by President Gotabaya

Days after Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned from his post under public pressure, 73-year-old Ranil Wickremesinghe returned to the post of the Prime Minister amidst the crippling Sri Lankan economy. The interesting aspect about his appointment is that he has just one seat in the 225-member Parliament.

His appointment comes after the largest opposition party refused to form the government under Gotayaba Rajapaksa. 

Who is Ranil Wickremesinghe? 

Born in 1949, Ranil Wickremesinghe became Sri Lanka's premier for the fifth time. He assumed the office of the prime minister for the first time in 1993.

In October 2018, the newly-appointed prime minister was fired from his post by then-President Maithripala Sirisena. Two months later, he was reinstated as the prime minister.

Since he is widely accepted in the tiny nation, Sri Lankans thought that only Wickremesinghe could handle the situation well. When compared to Rajapaksa, Wickremesinghe is believed to be closer to India. 

After reports of him becoming the new prime minister, the Sri Lankan share markets saw a jump of three per cent. The market had been closed for two days in a row. 

In April, Wickremesinghe appreciated New Delhi's efforts in providing assistance to his country. 

On China, he had said that Beijing gives credit lines in their own currencies and forces them to buy only Chinese.

Protests continue

The appointment of Ranil Wickremesinghe has not seen the protests subside in Sri Lanka. People are still insisting that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa must resign as well.

No-Confidence Motion against President Gotabaya is scheduled to be taken up for debate on May 17.

On Thursday, a court in Colombo banned former prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and 16 others from travelling overseas till investigators cleared them on charges of ordering attacks against peaceful protestors who demanded the Rajapaksa brothers' resignation.

Protesters have blamed the Rajapaksa brothers for leading the country into a debt crisis that has nearly bankrupted the country and caused severe shortages of fuel, food and other essentials.