{"id":91942,"date":"2022-05-13T14:25:32","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T14:25:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=91942"},"modified":"2022-05-13T14:25:32","modified_gmt":"2022-05-13T14:25:32","slug":"ranil-wickremesinghe-sri-lankas-new-prime-minister-faces-uphill-battle-by-george-wright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/ranil-wickremesinghe-sri-lankas-new-prime-minister-faces-uphill-battle-by-george-wright\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka&#8217;s new prime minister faces uphill battle &#8211; by George Wright"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; color: #008000;\"><strong>Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka&#8217;s new prime minister faces uphill battle &#8211; by George Wright<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n<figure id=\"attachment_91943\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-91943\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-91943 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Ranil-Wickremesinghe-Sri-Lankas-new-prime-minister-faces-uphill-battle-e1652451408363.jpg\" alt=\"Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka's new prime minister faces uphill battle - by George Wright\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-91943\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Ranil Wickremesinghe arrives at a Buddhist temple after his latest appointment as prime minister<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Source<\/strong>:<span style=\"color: #003366;\"><a style=\"color: #003366;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-61429791\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bbc.com<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><b class=\"ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3\">News that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the new prime minister has been largely met with dismay and disbelief in Sri Lanka.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">His appointment is being viewed as yet another arrogant response by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to weeks of protests over rising prices and shortages.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Mr Wickremesinghe is seen as being close to the Rajapaksa family, and many think he has been chosen because he will be likely to guarantee their security.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Protests flared up in early April in the capital, Colombo, and have grown in size and spread across the country. People are furious because the cost of living has become unaffordable, and nine people have lost their lives in the unrest.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"unordered-list-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-1o5f7ft-BulletListContainer e5tfeyi0\">\n<ul role=\"list\">\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><a class=\"ssrcss-1gfaiii-InlineLink e1no5rhv0\" style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/world-61028138\">Why are Sri Lankans protesting in the streets?<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">However some say his experience and links with India and the West could help overcome the economic crisis that led to the protests.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">&#8220;We are facing a crisis, we have to get out of it,&#8221; he told Reuters news agency shortly after his swearing-in. Asked whether there was a possible solution, he replied, &#8220;Absolutely.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"piano-inline1\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">It is the sixth time the senior opposition MP has held the post. He&#8217;s never seen out a full term.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">A lawyer by profession, he comes from an affluent family of politicians and businessmen.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">He was first elected to parliament in 1977 and quickly moved up the party ladder after Ranasinghe Pramadasa was elected president in 1989. He first served as prime minister from 1993 to 1994.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">In 1994, he became leader of the United National Party (UNP) when Gamini Dissanayake was killed by suspected rebels of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">He himself narrowly escaped an assassination attempt when a bomb went off at a meeting he was addressing in the town of Eppawala.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Mr Wickramesinghe improved his party&#8217;s image by appointing a disciplinary commission to get rid of corrupt party members.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">He also tried to change his personal image with various different haircuts to give himself a more appealing look and he tried to broaden the UNP&#8217;s public support by touring villages.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Around the turn of the century he was a genuine contender for president but his star has since waned.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">He was prime minister during the deadly Easter Sunday bombings in 2019, which killed at least 250 people.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">He told the BBC he had been &#8220;out of the loop&#8221; when it came to intelligence warnings ahead of the attacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">In the last election, his once ruling UNP managed to scrape together just one parliamentary seat, leaving him its sole representative in parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">One major reason people are angry over Mr Wickremesinghe&#8217;s return has been his perceived closeness to the Rajapaksa family despite being in opposition. Many people believe he helped shield them when they lost power in 2015 &#8211; his appointment now is seen as a way for the president to defy protesters&#8217; demands that he quit.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sri Lankan journalist R Sivaraja has told BBC Tamil he believes Mr Wickremesinghe&#8217;s strengths, including maintaining good relations with diplomats and not making rash decisions, could hold him in good stead in the current climate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i86\" data-component=\"text-block\">\n<div class=\"ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1\">\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">But many remain unconvinced, including Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. &#8220;People want a person with integrity, not someone who has been defeated in politics,&#8221; he told local media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/av-embeds\/61429791\/vpid\/p077lm93\" width=\"600\" height=\"500\" frameborder=\"0\"><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><span data-mce-type=\"bookmark\" style=\"display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;\" class=\"mce_SELRES_start\">\ufeff<\/span><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka&#8217;s new prime minister faces uphill battle &#8211; by George Wright Source:bbc.com News that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the new prime minister has been largely met with dismay and disbelief in Sri Lanka. His appointment is being viewed as yet another arrogant response by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to weeks of protests over rising [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[44112,38265,2086,7465,44110,4743,687,44111],"class_list":{"0":"post-91942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","6":"category-articles","7":"tag-archbishop-of-colombo-cardinal-malcolm-ranjith","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-colombo","10":"tag-gotabaya-rajapaksa","11":"tag-ranasinghe-pramadasa","12":"tag-ranil-wickremesinghe","13":"tag-sri-lanka","14":"tag-united-national-party","15":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.7.1 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka&#039;s new prime minister faces uphill battle - by George Wright - eLanka<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"News that Ranil Wickremesinghe is the new prime minister has been largely met with dismay and disbelief in Sri Lanka. 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