Ranil Wickremesinghe, the leader of Sri Lanka's ruling United National Party (UNP), was sworn in as the island nation's 16th prime minister before President Maithripala Sirisena at the Presidential Secretariat on Friday.
The 66-year-old veteran lawmaker Wickremesinghe, who became Sri Lanka's prime minister for the fourth time, thwarted former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's bid to stage a political comeback in parliamentary elections held on Monday, according to New Indian Express.
The ruling UNP won 106 seats in the 225-member parliament, while Rajapaksa's United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) won 95 seats.
The Sri Lankan prime minister called all parties to contribute in nation building and vowed to form a national unity government. His party UNP and President Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) also signed a memorandum of understanding for unity government, The Nation reported.
"I want everyone to come together now, think of the country, think of the people," he said ahead of his oath ceremony, according to The Free Press Journal.
Wickremesinghe was elected from the Colombo District constituency where he secured 500,566 votes, the most number of votes obtained by a candidate in Sri Lankan election history, The Nation reported.
Wickremesinghe has served as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka since Jan. 9, 2015. He was appointed as Prime Minister by President Sirisena after winning the 2015 Presidential Election, according to his official profile posted on Prime Minister's Office website.
He also previously served as Prime Minister from May 7, 1993 to Aug. 9, 1994 and from Dec. 9, 2001 to April 6, 2004. Wickremesinghe became the leader of the United National Party in 1994 and was a member of Parliament for the Colombo District since 1977.
