The arrest of former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe on a charge of misuse of public funds for a private visit to Britain two years ago has rocked the island nation, which only recently started emerging from economic turmoil.

A lawyer-politician who served as Prime Minister six times and became President in the wake of a public revolt that ousted incumbent Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022, he had the difficult task of steering the country’s enfeebled economy. Wickremesinghe, who imposed harsh austerity measures and secured a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), however, found his political fortunes sliding after his defeat last year in presidential polls that were won by Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a leftist politician from the........

© Free Press Journal