Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday named his elder brother and former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa as the new Prime Minister after incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe announced his resignation from the post following the election debacle.
Mahinda, the main opposition leader, will be appointed as Prime Minister after incumbent Wickremesinghe steps down formally on Thursday, his spokesman Rohan Weliwita was quoted as saying by Times Online.
The former President, who will function as Prime Minister of the caretaker cabinet until the general election, is expected to be sworn in at 1 pm before assuming office at around 3 pm, it added.
Mahinda was appointed the PM on October 26, 2018 by the then President Maithripala Sirisena, who sacked Wickremesinghe in a controversial move that plunged the country into an unprecedented constitutional crisis.
