Profile: Sri Lanka's newly appointed Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena

COLOMBO, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Veteran politician Dinesh Gunawardena was appointed as Sri Lankan prime minister by President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Friday.

Gunawardena, 73, is the current leader of the House of Parliament. In 1983, Gunawardena was elected the member of parliament.

Having served as the minister of transport from 2000 to 2001, he was appointed minister of urban development and water supply and deputy minister of education in 2004.

He also served as the minister of water supply and drainage, minister of foreign affairs, minister of education, and minister of public administration.