Senior politician Dinesh Gunawardena on Friday took over as Sri Lanka's prime minister as President Ranil Wickremesinghe swore in his new Cabinet.

A stalwart of Sri Lankan politics, Gunawardena, 73. earlier served as the foreign minister and education minister. He was appointed as Home Minister in April by then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The prime minister's post fell vacant after Wickremesinghe, 73, was on Thursday sworn in as the country's eighth president after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and then resigned as president.

He has called for bipartisanship to address the unprecedented economic crisis the country is facing.?