Ranil Wickremesinghe is the sixth Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (File photo)
After graduating in law, Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1972 and practiced as an advocate for five years.
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Veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Sri Lanka after Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down this month. He took office at a time when the island nation is grappling with a serious and unprecedented economic and political crisis. Rajapaksa resigned on May 9 after his supporters clashed with anti-government protesters.
Wickremesinghe has been appointed as the prime minister of a foreign currency-starved country for the sixth time. The 73-year-old belongs to an aristocratic family. His maternal grandfather published newspapers supporting Sri Lanka’s independence movement, while his grandfather served as the most senior colonial government servant.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Educational Background
Born in 1949, Wickremesinghe completed his primary and secondary education at the Royal Preparatory School and Royal College in the capital Colombo. He then went to the University of Colombo, formerly known as the University of Ceylon, and obtained a law degree. After graduating in law, he was sworn in as an advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1972 and practiced as a lawyer for five years.
Wickremesinghe has been a Robert E Wilhelm Fellow at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also received an honorary doctorate from Deakin University in Australia in 2017 “for his significant contribution to reforms in the economy, education and human rights”.
In addition, the PM has served as the Vice President (ex-officio) of the International Democratic Union since 2005. Wickremesinghe was also appointed the President of the Asia Pacific Democratic Union.
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Early Political Career
Wickremesinghe was first appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka for the first time in 1993. He assumed office after the assassination of Ranasinghe Premadasa, the then President of Sri Lanka. After serving till 1994, Wickremesinghe was again appointed as the Prime Minister in 2000 under the chairmanship of Chandrika Bandaranaike. He ran for the presidency in 2005 but lost to Mahinda Rajapaksa after falling short of nearly 150,000 votes.
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