Ranil Wickremesinghe

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Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan lawyer, United National Party’s (UNP) member of the parliament, and the 9th President of Sri Lanka. He is known to have held the position of Prime Minister six times.In 1972, after completing his graduation, Ranil Wickremesinghe worked as an advocate under the apprentice of a famous Sri Lankan Supreme Court lawyer named H. W. Jayewardene.After working as an apprentice for a few months, in 1972, Ranil Wickremesinghe started practising law in Sri Lanka’s apex court. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s photo taken in the early 1970s.Ranil Wickremesinghe’s political journey began when he joined the youth wing of the United National Party (UNP) while he was pursuing his graduation at the University of Ceylon.Climbing up the party’s ranks, Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed as the chief organizer of the party during the Kelaniya by-elections held in Sri Lanka in 1975.In 1977, Ranil Wickremesinghe contested his first national elections from the Biyagama constituency. During the elections, he was made the UNP’s chief organizer of the Biyagama elections.Later in 1977, aged 28, after winning the parliamentary elections from the Biyagama electorate, Ranil Wickremesinghe entered the parliament as a member.After being made the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1977, Ranil Wickremesinghe became the youngest member of parliament to have been given a ministerial appointment. [10]Business Standard Ranil Wickremesinghe (left) with A. C. S. Hameed, the then foreign minister of Sri Lanka.From 5 October 1977 to 14 February 1980, Ranil Wickremesinghe served as the Minister of Youth Affairs & Employment. After taking the charge of the ministry, he established the National Youth Services Council (NYSC), which aimed at providing vocational training and career counselling to those who could not pursue higher education due to some reason. Ranil Wickremesinghe during his tenure as an Education Minister in 1977.In 1980, Ranil Wickremesinghe was side-stepped and given charge of the Education Ministry. As an Education Minister, Ranil introduced several policies which were aimed at uplifting the quality of education being provided in the country. Through his policies, he brought uniformity in the distribution of stationery items among the students, prohibited the political appointment of teachers in government-run educational institutions, and introduced educational televisions and computers in schools and colleges. He held the appointment as an Education Minister till 1989. Ranil Wickremesinghe’s photograph taken in 1985.