Colombo | Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena resigned from his post on Monday as part of a power transition in the country following the presidential election won by Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The resignation came ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Dissanayake.

Gunawardena, 75, was prime minister since July 2022.

Gunawardene, in a letter addressed to Dissanayake, said he is resigning from the post as a new President has been elected and that he would create the environment to appoint a new Cabinet.

Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) in Saturday's election.

Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People's Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB).

The election on Saturday was the first to be held since mass protests unseated Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 after the country suffered an economic crisis.