United National Party (UNP) leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as the 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka a short while ago today (21).
Upon arrival at the Parliament, he was escorted into the Parliament by Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena.
He took oaths before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya at the Parliamentary complex.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected the 8th Executive President following a secret ballot that was held in Parliament yesterday.
The 73-year-old has been the leader of the United National Party (UNP) since 1994.
Entering active politics in the mid-1970s with the UNP, he was first elected to Parliament from the Biyagama electorate in the 1977 parliamentary elections and was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He was thereafter appointed as the Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment, becoming the youngest Cabinet Minister in Sri Lanka.
The newly elected President contested the 2020 parliamentary election but failed to secure a seat in Parliament.
He re-entered Parliament as a National List MP of the United National Party (UNP) and was sworn in as a member of parliament on 23 June 2021.
It is noteworthy that Ranil Wickramasinghe has been appointed to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa who resigned on July 15.
