Mon | Nov 17, 2025

Sri Lanka’s prime minister sworn in as interim president

Published:Friday | July 15, 2022 | 9:19 AM
In this photograph provided by the Sri Lankan President's Office, interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe (right) greets Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya during the oath-taking ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, July 15, 2022. Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim president Friday until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapse forced him from office. (Sri Lankan President's Office via AP)

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's prime minister was sworn in Friday as interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the country's economic collapse.

Lawmakers were to convene Saturday to choose a new leader who would serve the remainder of Rajapaksa's term, which ends in 2024.

A tenuous calm was restored in the capital of Colombo on Thursday after protesters who had occupied government buildings retreated, but with the political opposition deeply fractured, a solution to Sri Lanka's many problems seemed no closer.

As people celebrated in the streets, Parliament speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent political process that should be done within a week.

The new president could appoint a new prime minister, who would then have to be approved by Parliament.

After Rajapaksa resigned, pressure on the prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was rising.

In a televised statement, Wickremesinghe said he would initiate steps to change the constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen Parliament, restore law and order and take legal action against “insurgents.”

It was unclear to whom he was referring, although he said true protesters would not have gotten involved in clashes near Parliament on Wednesday night when many soldiers reportedly were injured.

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