COLOMBO: Veteran politician and former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake, passed away on Tuesday in Colombo at an age of 83 after a brief illness. Wickremanayake served as the Prime Minister twice.

Member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLPF) for more than 60 years, he served as the prime minister in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government in the year 2005. Before this, veteran leader held same position from August 2000 to December 2001, succeeding then prime minister Sirmavo Bandaranaike.

Earlier, he had been admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital on December 21.

It was Wickremanayake who paved the way for Rajapaksa to emerge as the next leader of the SLFP.

A number of Sri Lankan leaders expressed their condolence and sympathies for the 83-year-old’s family, including President Maithripala Sirisena and Rajapaksa. “Veteran politician Ratnasiri Wickremanayake was loved by his people for many decades,” Sirisena said on Twitter.