Former Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe is recuperating in Singapore following surgery, according to reports confirmed on April 8, 2026.
Former Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo visited the former president in Singapore this week and shared a photograph of the courtesy call on social media, captioning it: “Calling on former Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe.”
Neither Wickremesinghe’s office nor his United National Party has issued a public statement detailing the nature of the surgery or an expected return date. The 77-year-old served as president from July 2022 until November 2024, overseeing the negotiation and early implementation of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility arrangement with the International Monetary Fund after the 2022 sovereign default.
Wickremesinghe has kept a relatively low public profile since leaving office and losing the September 2024 presidential election to Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The UNP and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya have since been in protracted discussions over opposition realignment, with the SJB this week ruling out any alliance with the Rajapaksa-aligned SLPP and insisting that only the UNP remains a potential partner.
