Ranil Wickremesinghe, the chief of the United National Party which has only one seat in parliament, is set to return as the prime minister of Sri Lanka, with the country battling its worst economic crisis that is threatening to tear the island-nation apart.
Wickremesinghe will take the oath of office on May 12 evening, his party confirmed, three days after Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to resign with anger over food shortage and power outages turning violent.
Wickremesinghe, who has served as the country's prime minister five times, was fired by then President Maithripala Sirisena in October 2018.
He was, however, reinstalled as the prime minister by Sirisena after two months. In the elections that followed, his party faced a rout as the electorate posed faith in the Rajapaksas-led Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP).
Reports citing sources claimed that members of the ruling SLPP, along with a section of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and several other parties have expressed their support to get majority for Wickremesinghe in the 225-member parliament.
UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena also expressed confidence on being asked by reporters whether Wickremesinghe would be able to prove his majority in the parliament.
After taking oath, Wickremesinghe will visit a temple in Colombo and then assume his duties.
(With inputs from PTI)
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