115 Fifth Lane (commonly known as Fifth Lane) is the home of

Ranil Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...

, the former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. It was built by Wickremesinghe's father,

press baron A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

Esmond Wickremesinghe Cyril Esmond Lucien Wickremesinghe (29 May 1920 – 29 September 1985) was a Ceylonese press baron, lawyer, and a successful entrepreneur. He also played key role in defeating Sirimavo Bandaranaike that brought United National Party's Dudley Senan ...

. In his capacity as Prime Minister, Wickremesinghe continued to live at Fifth Lane, using the Prime Minister's official residence,

Temple Trees Temple Trees is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. It is located in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Several recent Presidents have used it as their official residence as well. History Private residence The history of ''Temple Trees' ...

, only for official functions during his time as Prime Minister, with the exception of the

2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesingh ...

. During Wickremesinghe's tenure as

opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

, he met many foreign dignitaries at Fifth Lane. The living room of Fifth Lane was badly damaged on 23 March 1965 when a bomb was thrown into the house and exploded moments after

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Min ...

had left the premises while negotiations were underway to form a government. On July 9, 2022, protestors stormed the residence in response to the

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studi ...

and the

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

since 2019 after Wickremesinghe stated his willingness to resign to make way for an all-party government. The home was broken in by protestors and set on fire at just after 21:10 (16:40 BST). Wickremesinghe was not present during the arrival of protestors.

References

Buildings and structures demolished in 2022 Houses in Colombo Prime ministerial residences Ranil Wickremesinghe {{SriLanka-struct-stub

See also

References