Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in today for a fourth term as Prime Minister at the Presidential Secretariat.

 

Wickremesinghe became the first Sri Lankan to be sworn-in as the Prime Minister for four terms.

 

Many guests including former President Mahinda Rajapaksa were present at the event presided by President Maithripala Sirisena.

 

Born on March 24, 1949, Wickremesinghe was educated at Royal College, Colombo and then obtained his Bachelor's degree from the Law Faculty of the University of Colombo.

 

Wickremesinghe entered the Parliament from the Biyagama Electorate in 1977, obtaining 22,045 votes. His main opponent David Hapangama of the SLFP obtained only 15,276 votes.

 

He was a Cabinet Minister of the UNP government from 1977 to 1993, before being appointed Prime Minister in 1993. He served in this capacity until August 1994.

 

Wickremesinghe was the Prime Minister between December 2001-April 2004 and from January 2015.