Ranil Wickremesinghe is the current and 9th executive president of Sri Lanka and is contesting as an Independent Candidate for the 2024 presidential election. Ranil Wickremesinghe is a member of the United National Party (UNP), and he first entered Parliament in 1977, representing the Biyagama electorate. He has had a distinguished career in politics, marked by his long tenure as a Member of Parliament and serving as the Prime Minister on six occassions from 1993 – 1994. Ranil Wickremesinghe received his primary and secondary education at Royal College, Colombo. Having graduated from Colombo University with a Degree in Law, he enrolled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1972. He then practised as a lawyer for five years.  Throughout his career, he has held various ministerial positions and played a key role in the United National Party (UNP), the oldest political party in Sri Lanka. His political journey began in 1977, and he has been a consistent presence in Sri Lankan Parliament for the last three decades, with the exception of a brief hiatus. Wickremesinghe had early involvement in the UNP's Youth League and is a lawyer by profession.