Sri Lanka: Ally of ousted president Rajapaksa named as new prime minister

An ally of the Rajapaksa political family has been appointed as Sri Lanka’s new prime minister, hours after security forces cleared the main protest site occupied for months by demonstrators angry over the country’s economic collapse.

New president Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was elected and sworn into office earlier this week, appointed his former school classmate Dinesh Gunawardena to succeed himself.

Mr Gunawardena, 73, belongs to a prominent political family and has previously been a close ally of the Rajapaksa family, which ruled Sri Lanka for almost two decades.

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