COLOMBO - Dinesh Gunawardena was sworn in as the prime minister of Sri Lanka by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday.

Gunawardena, parliamentarian of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, took his oath in the capital Colombo in the presence of other senior legislators.

Wickremesinghe was elected as the new president of the South Asian country in a parliamentary vote on Wednesday, and was sworn in as Sri Lankan president on Thursday.

A senior official from the President's Office told Xinhua that the rest of cabinet of ministers will be sworn in later on Friday.