Sri Lanka names new PM amid unrest

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka appointed a new prime minister yesterday, a move President Gotabaya Rajapaksa hopes will quell weeks of worsening civil unrest in which at least nine people died this week and more than 300 were injured.

Ranil Wickremesinghe, a political veteran who has been prime minister of the nation five times before, faces the daunting task of leading his country through its worst economic crisis since independence.

Economic mismanagement, the Covid-19 pandemic and rising energy costs following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have drained state coffers, meaning Sri Lanka is running low on fuel and medicines and facing daily blackouts.