Sri Lankan politician and parliamentarian from a wealthy family, he stormed the field of politics since his youth and held several positions, most notably the prime minister 6 times.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, a "pro-Western reformist", took over as Sri Lanka's prime minister for the sixth time in 2022, steering the country's economy after its collapse and the escape of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe is seen as a "government-aligned opposition leader" and is credited with pushing the country economically into a better position during his first term as prime minister in 1993.

Birth and upbringing

Ranil Wickremesinghe was born on March 24, 1949 in Colombo to a wealthy family. He is the second son of Esmond Wickremesinghe, one of the country's important press magnates, who was previously the President of the International Press Institute and an advisor to some government officials.

He was first known as the nephew of Sri Lanka's first president, Junius Gaywardene.

He married Maitrey, an academic and professor of English in 1994.


Study and scientific training

He studied at the Royal College of Colombo, then joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Ceylon in the same city, obtained a bachelor's degree in law, and became a lawyer after changes to the legal profession in 1973.

During his studies, he served as President of the Law Students' Union and Vice-President of the University Student Council.

In 2014, he was a fellow at the Center for International Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, USA.

political experience

In 1972 he began working as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, and then began his political career in the mid-seventies of the last century with the United National Party (UNP), which was founded in 1946, as the head of the Electoral College in Kelaniya.

He later became head of the Electoral College in Byagama, and won the parliamentary elections for the first time in 1977, and in the same year became Minister of Foreign Affairs and established the Sri Lankan National Guard and the National Youth Council, and soon after was promoted to the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment, becoming the youngest minister in the government.

In 1989 he was appointed Minister of Industry, Science and Technology, initiated industrial reforms, and established the Byagama Special Economic Zone.

He served as prime minister for 16 months in 1994, and in the same year became the leader of the United National Party after the assassination of Jamini Dissanayake.


He improved his party's image by appointing a disciplinary committee to get rid of corrupt party members.

In the December 1999 presidential election, Wickremesinghe lost to President Chandrika Kumaratunga during a tense period in the country in which he survived an assassination attempt after a bomb exploded at a meeting he was addressing in Ibawala.

In the 2001 general parliamentary elections, Wickremesinghe led the National Union and won 109 seats, defeating the People's Alliance, which helped him form a government and became the 17th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

During his tenure as prime minister, he proposed for the second time to build a mega city (Megapolis) in the western province of the country that would compete with major cities globally, but the project did not continue after the fall of his government.

It also contributed to receiving external support that was expected to support the local economy and solve the economic crisis in Sri Lanka and the ongoing ethnic crisis in it.

In July 2002, he met US President George W. Bush, and that was the first meeting of its kind for a Sri Lankan leader in 18 years, during which he focused on discussing ways to build economic relations with America.


Then Sri Lanka's then-president Kumaratunga fired him, saying it was in the "national security interest" of the country.

In the 2005 presidential election, he was narrowly defeated by Member of Parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa.

He was appointed for the third time in the 2015 presidential election as Prime Minister in a 100-day plan under an agreement of understanding led by National Party candidate Maithripila Sirisena.

In the parliamentary elections in August 2015, Wickremesinghe became prime minister for the fourth time, re-launching the mega-city project (Megapolis), and reconstructing the areas affected by the civil war.

Some parliamentarians asked Wickremesinghe to resign from the party leadership and the position of prime minister, but he refused, citing a violation of the constitution. For the fifth time.

In 2020, the United National Party led by Wickremesinghe failed to obtain a seat in Parliament, but Wickremesinghe returned again in 2021 and was sworn in as a member of Parliament representing his party.

On May 12, 2022, Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister, with the aim of saving the country's economy after violent clashes that occurred during demonstrations that erupted weeks before his appointment, for the sixth time in which he held this position since 1993.

After the demonstrations renewed and escalated in July 2022 and after protesters stormed the presidential palace, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled and delegated his powers to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on July 13, 2022.

Wickremesinghe declared a state of emergency in the country and ordered the army and police to restore order, exacerbating the anger of protesters who stormed the government and television headquarters.


Functions and Responsibilities

He worked as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1972.

He held the position of prime minister 6 times until 2022.

He held the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Employment.

In 1989 he was appointed Minister of Industry, Science and Technology.

Achievements

He received an honorary doctorate from Deakin University, Australia, on February 14, 2017, for his contributions to economic reforms, education and human rights.

He is the youngest cabinet minister after winning the Electoral College in 1977.

He established the Sri Lanka National Guard and the National Youth Council in 1977.

A ceasefire agreement was signed with the Sri Lankan separatist movement (Tamil Tigers) "LTTE" (LTTE) in 2002 with Norwegian mediation, after the civil wars that plagued the country for many years.