Ranil Wickremesinghe (; ; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the ninth president of Sri Lanka from 2022 to 2024. He has also served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 1993–1994, 2001–2004, 2015–2018, 2018-2019 and in 2022. Wickremesinghe has held several ministerial roles, including Minister of Finance, Minister of Defence, Minister of Technology and Minister of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment. Wickremesinghe has led the United National Party (UNP) since 1994. He is also the eighth executive president of Sri Lanka, a role established by the 1977 constitutional amendment that expanded presidential powers..
Born into a political family, Wickremesinghe graduated from the University of Ceylon and qualified as a lawyer from the Ceylon Law College in 1972. He entered politics in the mid-1970s with the UNP, first being elected to Parliament in 1977. Over the years, he held various ministerial positions, including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Youth Affairs and Employment, and Industry, Science and Technology. He first became prime minister in 1993 following the assassination of President Ranasinghe Premadasa.
Wickremesinghe ran for president as the UNP candidate in 1999 and 2005, but was defeated both times. In 2015, he was appointed prime minister by president Maithripala Sirisena, leading a national unity government until 2019. During his tenure, he was controversially sacked by Sirisena in 2018, triggering a constitutional crisis, but was reappointed prime minister after the Supreme Court declared his sacking as unconstitutional. He lost his parliamentary seat in 2020 but re-entered parliament in 2021 as a National List MP.
In May 2022, Wickremesinghe was appointed prime minister by president Gotabaya Rajapaksa amidst the then-ongoing political crisis. Following Rajapaksa's resignation in July 2022, Wickremesinghe assumed the presidency in an acting capacity and was subsequently elected as the 9th president and the 8th executive president of Sri Lanka by parliament on 20 July 2022. He took office the following day. He attempted to run for a full term in his own right in 2024 but failed to win reelection, finishing in third place with 17.27% of the vote.
Early life and education Born on 24 March 1949 in Colombo, Wickremesinghe was the second son of Esmond Wickremesinghe and Nalini Wickremesinghe née Wijewardena. His father was a lawyer who became a press baron taking over the Lake House Group of newspapers. His grandfathers were Cyril Wickremesinghe of the Ceylon Civil Service and the press baron, D. R. Wijewardhena.
Wickremesinghe was educated at the Royal Preparatory School and at the Royal College, Colombo where he was a classmate and friend of Anura Bandaranaike, son of then Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike; and Dinesh Gunawardena, son of socialist leader Philip Gunawardena. Wickremesinghe entered the Faculty of Law of the University of Ceylon at its Colombo Campus which is now the University of Colombo. After graduation, he completed the law exams at the Ceylon Law College and took oaths as an advocate in 1972 after having apprenticed under H. W. Jayewardene, QC. He became an Attorney at law following the changes to the legal profession in 1973. Wickremesinghe received an honorary doctorate from Deakin University in Australia on 14 February 2017 for his significant contributions in reforms in economy, education and human rights.
Political career Wickremesinghe joined the United National Party (UNP) and progressed through its ranks. He was appointed the chief organizer of the Kelaniya Electorate in the mid-1970s, and was later appointed the chief organizer of the Biyagama Electorate, which he won in the 1977 parliamentary elections and entered parliament. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the new government of J. R. Jayewardene, and was soon promoted to the post of Minister of Youth Affairs & Employment on 5 October 1977, which made him the youngest cabinet minister of Sri Lanka. During his term as minister, he initiated the Sri Lanka National Guard and the National Youth Services Council (NYSCO), which provides vocational and career training to school leavers. Wickremesinghe was later made the Minister of Education on 14 February 1980.
Under the presidency of Ranasinghe Premadasa, Wickremesinghe was appointed the Minister of Industry on 18 February 1989, under which he initiated industrial reforms and established the Biyagama Special Economic Zone. In 1990, he was given the additional portfolios of Science and Technology. Wickremesinghe had competition from his senior colleagues in the UNP, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, who had been rivals of President Premadasa. He was appointed Leader of the House in 1989.
First premiership (1993–1994) On 7 May 1993, Wickremesinghe was sworn in as prime minister after President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers and Prime Minister D. B. Wijetunga was appointed president. During his ephemeral term, he was credited with pushing the country through an impressive economic transformation and was generally backed by the business community.
Opposition (1994–2001) In the 1994 parliamentary elections, the UNP lost to Chandrika Kumaratunga's People's Alliance (PA), and Kumaratunga was appointed Prime Minister of the country. Wickremesinghe was defeated in the race for Opposition Leader by two votes by fellow UNP member Gamini Dissanayake, who had re-joined the party. This gave Gamini Dissanayake the default leadership of the party and made him the presidential nominee of the UNP. The UNP was progressing well under Gamini Dissanayake's leadership when he too was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers. Gamini Dissanayake's widow, Srima Dissanayake replaced him as the candidate of the UNP in the 1994 election. Securing just 35% of the vote, she lost to Chandrika Kumaratunga in every electorate except Mahiyangana. Afterwards, Wickremesinghe was appointed the opposition leader as well as the UNP leader.
Wickremesinghe was seen as a cooperative opposition leader who gave the government a chance to carry out its agenda in its early days.
1999 presidential election In the 1999 presidential election, Wickremesinghe was nominated as the UNP presidential candidate. After a tense election campaign in the wake of the violent North Western Provincial Council election, the Tamil Tigers carried out a suicide bomb attack in an election campaign rally, in which President Kumaratunga lost her right eye. Voting was held two days later on 21 December 1999 and amidst a wave of sympathy, Kumaratunga was re-elected to a second term with 51% of the popular vote. After this electoral loss, Wickremesinghe unsuccessfully led his party in the 2000 parliamentary elections, again losing out to the PA.
Second premiership (2001–2004)
In the 2001 parliamentary elections, Wickremesinghe led the newly formed United National Front (UNF) to victory, winning 109 seats compared to the PA's 77 seats.Parliamentary General Election 2001, All Island Results Consequently, Wickremesinghe was able to form a new UNF government and sworn as the 17th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka on 9 December 2001. Chandrika Kumaratunga still remained the president of the country. This led to a confusing situation where the president and the prime minister were from two opposing parties. Although, according to the constitution, the president was both head of state and head of government, Wickremesinghe was able to appoint his own cabinet and he had the actual control over the government. President Chandrika Kumaratunga also chaired cabinet meetings as de facto head, but her influence over decision making was strictly limited.
During his second premiership, Wickremesinghe proposed to initiate the "Western Region Megapolis" project. Planned with the assistance of architects and town planners of a Singaporean firm CESMA, it proposed to build a large new city in the western province that can rival major cities in the world. However, the project did not proceed after the end of his government. He also requested the international community to assist in development during the ceasefire – the Tokyo Donor Conference on Reconstruction and Development of Sri Lanka was held in June 2003, during which Sri Lanka received more than 4.5 billion dollars in reconstruction and development aid.
Wickremesinghe's foreign policy during his tenure as prime minister pushed closer relations with the West. He expected their economic backing to overcome the economic crisis. He also largely took assistance, especially from Norway, to resolve the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. In July 2002 he was able to meet United States President George W. Bush. It was the first time a Sri Lankan leader met the US president in the White House in 18 years. This visit was primarily focused on building new relationships based on economical links between United States and Sri Lanka. Furthermore, the US government pledged to support his peace efforts with LTTE. He also met the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In September 2003, Wickremesinghe made his first official visit to Malaysia since taking office as prime minister. Over his two-day visit, he met with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in Putrajaya and urged Malaysian investors to explore opportunities in tourism, infrastructure, and agriculture. He also reassured them about the positive developments in the peace process.
Peace talks Wickremesinghe believed a political solution based on a United Sri Lanka was the permanent solution to the civil war in the country. He also believed that such a solution could be reached through a peaceful negotiation process with LTTE. Three months after the election, Wickremesinghe's government entered a ceasefire agreement (CFA) with LTTE. The agreement was signed on 22 February 2002 at different locations in the war zone by both parties and the Norwegian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Jon Westborg acted as the facilitator. It was said that the main objective of this agreement was to find a negotiated solution to the ongoing ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.Ceasefire Agreement, February 2002 Both parties agreed to halt all offensive military operations. An international monitoring mission called the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) was formed to inquire into any instance of violation of the terms and conditions of this agreement. In the aftermath of signing the CFA, the island was deemed a safe place once again, after decades of war. The tourism industry in particular experienced a significant escalation where the number of tourists arriving in the country was suddenly increased. The A9 Highway was reopened up to Kilinochchi on 15 February 2002 after 18 years.
After signing the CFA, Wickremesinghe held a few rounds of peace talks with LTTE between 2002 and 2003. Prof. G. L. Peiris, minister Milinda Moragoda and minister Rauff Hakeem led the government delegation and LTTE theoretician Anton Balasingham, LTTE political wing leader S.P. Thamilselvan and military leader Karuna Amman led the LTTE faction during the peace talks. The Norwegian government acted as the chief facilitator during the peace talks. There were six rounds of peace talks which were held at different locations around the world:
16–18 September 2002, BangkokPeace Talks 16–18 September 2002, Bangkok 31 October-3 November 2002, BangkokPeace Talks 31 October-3 November 2002, Bangkok 2–5 December 2002, OsloPeace Talks 2–5 December 2002, Oslo 6–9 January 2003, BangkokPeace Talks 6–9 January 2003, Bangkok 7–8 February 2003, BerlinPeace Talks 7–8 February 2003, Berlin 18–21 March 2003, TokyoPeace Talks 18–21 March 2003, Tokyo