Sri Lankan new premier swears in

Sri Lankan new Prime Minister Dissanayake Mudiyansalage Jayaratne has taken the oath of office following the ruling party's landslide victory.

Jayaratne, one of elder statesmen of the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) was elected as premier on Thursday by the Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to head the government in the parliament.

The victory of the UPFA was achieved after voting was re-run in two districts, which had canceled the polls due to fraud.

The ruling party that managed to secure 140 seats in the 225-member parliament, however, missed the opportunity to rewrite the constitution as it fell six seats short of the two-thirds majority that would enable the party to change the constitution.

UPFA's nearest rival, United National Front, could pick up only 60 seats. An ethnic Tamil party and a coalition led by the country's jailed former army chief won 14 and seven seats, respectively.

Jayaratne's political background goes back to 1970 when he was first elected to parliament. He is the founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the second-largest in Sri Lanka and the main party in the ruling coalition.

The new parliament will convene on Thursday for the first time.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=124045§ionid=351020406.