Dinesh Gunawardena, a prominent politician from Sri Lanka, was sworn in as the country’s new prime minister on Friday, according to his office. The country in the Indian Ocean is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades.
The incident happened immediately after security officers broke up and forced the removal of a portion of a protest camp that was set up on public property in Colombo’s largest city, arresting at least nine people as the new administration tries to crack down on protesters.
Former Podujana Peramuna minister Gunawardena took the oath of office in Wickremesinghe’s presence while standing in front of uniformed military officers in a room full of legislators and officials. Later on Friday, it’s anticipated that the rest of the cabinet will be sworn in.
