Who is Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena?

Dinesh Gunawardena, a hard-core Leftist leader whose family has a connection with India, became Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister by a quirk of fate at a time when the country is grappling with unprecedented economic crisis and political turmoil.

A stalwart of Sri Lankan politics, Mr. Gunawardena was appointed as the Prime Minister on July 22, a day after Ranil Wickremesinghe was elevated to President’s post. Mr. Gunawardena, 73, earlier served as the Foreign Minister and Education Minister. He was appointed as Home Minister in April by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Sri Lanka crisis live updates | Ali Sabry takes charge as Foreign Affairs Minister; Dinesh Gunawardena takes oath as new Prime Minister

A schoolmate of President Wickremesinghe, Dinesh Gunawardena, has held various Cabinet posts in the past. Born in 1949, Mr. Gunawardena is the leader of the Trotskyist majority nationalist Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP), a constituent party of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party.

Mr. Gunawardena belongs to a prominent political family in Sri Lanka and is a close ally of the Rajapaksa family, which ruled the country for nearly two decades. His father was a prominent figure in the Leftist socialist movement in the British era prior to the country’s independence in 1948.

His elder brother Indika, who passed away in 2015, was born in Bombay in 1943 when his parents were in hiding in India as they had revolted against British rule. Indika was a Cabinet Minister from 1994 to 2001.

Mr. Gunawardena received his primary- and secondary education from Royal College, Colombo, and later studied at the Netherlands School of Business, graduating with a diploma in business administration and management. He later joined the University of Oregon, graduating with a BBA in international business. He succeeded his father Philip Gunawardena in 1979 to lead the party.

Mr. Gunawardena entered Parliament for the first time in 1983 from the populous Colombo suburb of Maharagama and became a leading Opposition figure until 1994. He became a Cabinet Minister for the first time in 2000. He continued in senior Cabinet positions until 2015. He returned to the Cabinet in 2020.

The new government led by Mr. Wickremesinghe faces the task of leading the country out of its economic collapse and restoring order after months of mass protests that forced President Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign.

Sri Lanka has been witnessing protests since mid-April. Protesters are demanding their leaders resign over an economic crisis. Mr. Gunawardena’s appointment came hours after security forces made several arrests and cleared a protest camp near the Presidential palace in the capital.

As a Prime Minister, Mr. Gunawardena has to walk a tightrope. His close connection with the Rajapaksas can draw the ire of protesters who blame the powerful family for the country’s worst economic crisis.

18-member Cabinet sworn in

President Ranil Wickremesinghe swore in his 18-member Cabinet in the hope of ending the political instability and the unprecedented economic crisis in the country. The Cabinet was sworn in on Mr. Wickremesinghe’s first day in office.

Apart from Prime Minister Gunawardena, there are 17 other Ministers in the Cabinet. Ali Sabry, who earlier headed the Finance Ministry, was appointed as Foreign Minister. Prime Minister Gunawardena has been given an additional portfolio of Public Administration Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government.

The rest of the Ministers were retained with their same portfolios while President Wickremesinghe continues to hold the Ministry of Finance.