Wickremesinghe sworn in as Lankan PM, two major parties agree to work together

COLOMBO: Ranil Wickremesinghe, chief of the United National Party (UNP), was sworn in for a fourth term as Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Friday.

He was elected for the fourth time as prime minster in the Aug 17 parliamentary elections and topped the UNP Colombo district list with 500,566 votes; the highest number of preferential votes at a parliamentary election obtained by a candidate.

He served as prime minister for eight months when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed him after his victory in presidential elections. Mr Wickremesinghe had also served as Prime Minister from May 7, 1993, to August 19, 1994, and Dec 9, 2001, to April 9, 2004.

Monday’s verdict by voters rejected a bid by controversial former President Mahinda Rajapaksa to return to political power as the country’s prime minister, an office that is second to the president.

Wickremesinghe’s UNP won 106 out of 225 seats in parliament, while Rajapaksa’s SLFP secured 95.

In another development, Wickremesinghe’s United National Party and Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party Friday signed an agreement to work together in the new parliament covering nine points that include the prevention of SLFP members who lost in the general election crossing over to the government for political gains, a hitherto common phenomena in Sri Lankan politics.

Working together to strengthen the economy, safeguarding children and women rights and strengthening democracy are other key areas of the agreement which has a time limit of two years. Meanwhile, President Maithripala Sirisena is steadily gaining control over his party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) of which he is chairman, but which during and prior to the August 17 parliamentary elections was under the de facto control of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

On Friday, the pro-Sirisena and pro-Rajapaksa factions in the UPFA agreed on a compromise list of people who should be nominated to the 12 “National List” parliamentary seats allotted to the party following the August 17 elections.

Among the nominees are those of the Sirisena faction of the SLFP who had failed to get elected to parliament. A six-person committee, headed former President Chandrika Kumaratunga, was set up to negotiate the terms of participation in the national government.

Rajapaksa boycotted Thursday’s meeting but in an unexpected gesture of goodwill attended the Friday’s swearing in ceremony of the prime minister.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2015

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