Dinesh Gunawardena appointed Sri Lanka's PM

Colombo: Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday appointed Dinesh Gunawardena, a loyalist of the Rajapaksa family, as the Prime Minister in a bid to restore political stability and rebuild the country's bankrupt economy.

The formation of the new government by Wickremesinghe took place hours after Sri Lankan troops and police armed with assault rifles and batons forcibly removed anti-government protesters camped outside the presidential office here in a pre-dawn raid.

Social media posts showed officers dressed in riot gear pulling down protest tents and arresting several demonstrators. Banners that were hung from top of the secretariat have also been removed.

Sri Lanka has seen months of mass unrest over an economic crisis and many blame the former government led by ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his family for mishandling the island nation's economy.

The forcible removal of protesters, criticised by the Opposition as well as by several Western envoys here, is seen as a signal that President Wickremesinghe, 73, will crack down on anti-government demonstrators who forced the ouster of his predecessor Rajapaksa.

Wickremesinghe, who was appointed acting President by Rajapaksa was officially sworn in as President on Wednesday after he was elected by Parliament on July 20.

The 18-member Cabinet was sworn in on President Wickremesinghe's first day in office.

Ali Sabry, who earlier headed the finance ministry, was appointed as the foreign minister.