<p>Sri Lanka’s former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday was sworn in as an MP for a record ninth consecutive time, creating history as the only politician in the country to have entered every Parliament since 1977.</p>.<p>The United National Party (UNP), which Wickremesinghe has been leading since 1994, suffered a major setback at the 2020 parliamentary polls when the party faced its worst election defeat in history.</p>.<p>Wickremesinghe’s UNP was routed with just 2 per cent of the vote and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the breakaway UNP faction, became the main Opposition group by winning 40 seats as opposed to UNP’s solitary seat.</p>.<p>Although Wickremesinghe was a defeated candidate in the August 2020 parliamentary election, his entry to Parliament was made possible by the solitary seat the UNP won – through the list of appointed members based on the cumulative votes polled nationally.</p>.<p>The 72-year-old four-time prime minister has now created history as the only parliamentarian to represent all parliaments since 1977.</p>.<p>For 10 months Wickremesinghe resisted the move to return to Parliament.</p>.<p>He said he was forced by the party rank and file to return as a parliamentarian.</p>.<p>Speaking after taking the oath, Wickremesinghe blamed the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for the current economic problems and advocated a return to an International Monetary Fund bailout programme.</p>
<p>Sri Lanka’s former prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday was sworn in as an MP for a record ninth consecutive time, creating history as the only politician in the country to have entered every Parliament since 1977.</p>.<p>The United National Party (UNP), which Wickremesinghe has been leading since 1994, suffered a major setback at the 2020 parliamentary polls when the party faced its worst election defeat in history.</p>.<p>Wickremesinghe’s UNP was routed with just 2 per cent of the vote and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the breakaway UNP faction, became the main Opposition group by winning 40 seats as opposed to UNP’s solitary seat.</p>.<p>Although Wickremesinghe was a defeated candidate in the August 2020 parliamentary election, his entry to Parliament was made possible by the solitary seat the UNP won – through the list of appointed members based on the cumulative votes polled nationally.</p>.<p>The 72-year-old four-time prime minister has now created history as the only parliamentarian to represent all parliaments since 1977.</p>.<p>For 10 months Wickremesinghe resisted the move to return to Parliament.</p>.<p>He said he was forced by the party rank and file to return as a parliamentarian.</p>.<p>Speaking after taking the oath, Wickremesinghe blamed the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for the current economic problems and advocated a return to an International Monetary Fund bailout programme.</p>