President Ranil Wickremesinghe has reportedly decided to forgo special ceremonies to celebrate his first anniversary in office as the Head of State.
Accordingly, he has given instructions to respective officials not to organize any official events at the expense of the public in celebration of the first year of his appointment to office.
The directives were given after taking into account the requests made by several officials to organize functions to mark the anniversary.
Wickremesinghe was elected the 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka to serve the remaining term of his predecessor, former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa after receiving 134 votes during a division held in the 225-member parliament on July 20, 2022. He was then sworn in on July 21.
According to reports, the president has sternly refused the proposals mooted by officials to organize ceremonies to celebrate the event, stressing that such events should not be organized using public or private funds at a time when the country is recovering from the economic crisis.
Meanwhile, the president is scheduled to visit India on July 21 on an official visit.
