Yahoo TV

STORY: Leader of the opposition United National Party (UNP), Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa at a ceremony at the president's house on Thursday (May 12). He replaces the president's brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa, who resigned amid street protests in the main city Colombo and beyond which became more deadly this week.

“People say he can do something,” said a newspaper vendor Malik Thushara. “However, in my political opinion, Ranil Wickremesinghe is not a likeable person.”

"He is promising that we will have all three meals daily. He is a big liar, we have already been fooled before. We will not get fooled again”. said businessman Priyasami Samsundaram.

Wickremesinghe now also faces the challenge of uniting a fractured parliament to tackle soaring inflation and dwindling foreign reserves that have left fuel and some medicines in short supply.