By Saman Indrajith

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday (12) went ahead with his original plan to swear in UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as new Premier despite SJB leader Sajith Premadasa’s last-minute offer to accept the post.

Soon after the President’s Office confirmed the decision to swear in Wickremesinghe, Premadasa, who is also the Opposition Leader, dispatched a letter to President Rajapaksa.

Addressing the media soon afterwards, Premadasa said that following the President’s address to the nation on Wednesday, he had felt the need to drop his earlier demand for President Rajapaksa’s resignation for him to accept the premiership.

Wickremesinghe, who is the only UNP MP in the Parliament, has held the premiership on five previous occasions.

SJB General Secretary Ranjith Madduma Bandara told the media that members of his party wouldn’t switch allegiance to the new administration.

Wickremesinghe was sworn in before President Rajapaksa at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.

It was the sixth time Wickremesinghe was appointed the PM.

Wickremesinghe is to establish a new government and select a new Cabinet of Ministers from several political parties today and address the nation thereafter to reveal his plans to resolve the prevailing crises.

Political sources said that the President and the UNP leader would work together to secure the backing of political parties to stabilise the economy, and they were confident a consensus could be reached before the Parliament meets again on 17 May.

Having received blessings at the Walukaramaya, Colombo, Premier Wickremesinhe assured the media that he would work hard towards resolving the crises urgently.

Wickremesinghe said that his intention was to help those struggling to make ends meet to have three meals a day.

Wickremesinghe’s appointment was slammed by Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and several members of Maha Sangha including Ven Omalpe Sobitha thera.

“This is not the change the country was looking for,” Cardinal said, adding that Wickremesinghe’s appointment to the post of Prime Minister could not be accepted.

“Wickremesinghe is only one representative of Parliament and he does not command the majority in Parliament. This appointment is not legal and this is not the solution that the people in this country want at the moment,” he said.

The Cardinal said the people want a person with reputed integrity and not a person who has been defeated in politics, and who has been thrown out of power by the people.

He also said the people want a person who can win the confidence of all the people.

“The Mahanayake Theros suggest a non-partisan person. What has happened to that suggestion is everybody’s guess. We would like to reiterate that is it necessary for us to move forward from the present crisis with confidence into the future, we need a complete change of this system. And that can happen not through the leaders of the present parliament parties,” he said.

The Cardinal said that it can only happen with someone who is not a partisan person, who can win the confidence of all the citizens of this country.

‘The Mahanayake Theros made that request to the President and we expect the President to honor that request, and to respect the voice of the clergy,’ he said.

Chief Sanghanayake (Dakshina Lankawa) of the Ramanna Nikaya, Ven Omalpe Sobitha Thera said that the appointment of Wickremesinghe to the vacant post of Prime Minister is ‘against due process, unconstitutional, and unethical.’

Thera said that Wickremesinghe is not suitable to be appointed to the post of Prime Minister.

“The people are asking for one thing, but are being offered something completely different,” said Sobhitha Thera, adding the Mahanayake Theras have made a clear directive with respect to the appointment of a new administration.

He said the appointment of Wickremesinghe would be seen as a direct disregard of the directive.

“The entire country is aware that Ranil Wickremesinghe is not a leader who has won the hearts of the people,” Ven Thera said.

He is a National List MP and is not a leader who can realize the aspirations of the people, said Sobhitha Thera, adding that Wickremesinghe is being appointed for some other personal reason, and not because the people want him as the PM.

“This is a decision being made for the sole protection of the Rajapaksas.”

He said that one person is being given power by breaking away MPs from other parties, sometimes forcibly or by offering them money.