Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe to resign today

Colombo [Sri Lanka], Nov 20 (ANI): Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will tender his resignation from office on Wednesday, paving the way for newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appoint a new Cabinet, Daily Mirror reported.
Wickremesinghe discussed this matter when he met Rajapaksa on Tuesday.
A special Cabinet meeting is slated to be held at 4 pm today, after which the Sri Lankan Prime Minister will announce his resignation from the post, according to the Sri Lankan daily.
Later, Rajapaksa is expected to appoint a small Cabinet for a brief period till the dissolution of the Parliament after March 1, 2020.
Leaders of the parties that backed Rajapaksa during the presidential polls will be given preference in the Cabinet. According to sources, the Cabinet will have 15 members.
70-year old Rajapaksa defeated United National Party (UNP) candidate Sajith Premadasa by more than 13 lakh votes in the recently concluded presidential elections, the country's election commission said on Sunday.
On Monday, Rajapaksa took oath as the president at Ruwanweliseya, a Buddhist pagoda, in Anuradhapura, situated in northcentral Sri Lanka. He is the second member of the Rajapaksa family to become the president.
His older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa served as president from 2005 to 2015. (ANI)