Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has sworn in an opposition lawmaker as his prime minister, making her the country’s first woman to head the government in 24 years.

Last week’s elections, the first since the crisis, saw millions of Sri Lankans casting their votes for change, electing Dissanayake as their new President.

Sri Lanka's newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has dissolved parliament to clear the way for a snap general election in the debt-ridden country, he said in a government gazette notification on Tuesday.