COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka's new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Tuesday sworn in an opposition lawmaker as his prime minister, making her the country’s first woman to head the government in 24 years.

Women make up more than half of the voters in Sri Lanka, but in Saturday’s presidential election, not even one will be on the ballot.

Sri Lanka's new president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, named Harini Amarasuriya, a college professor and first-time lawmaker, as the new prime minister of the Indian Ocean island nation on Tuesday, making her the third woman to be appointed to the post.

Ms Amarasuriya, 54, is the first woman in more than two decades and the only third woman in the history of independent Sri Lanka to take charge as the prime minister. She is a sociology lecturer and known for her activism on gender and minority rights.

Sri Lanka's new president has chosen his prime minister - selecting a woman for the third time in the country's history. Anura Kumara Dissanayake named former university lecturer-turned-MP Harini Amarasuriya as prime minister on Tuesday - also giving her ministerial responsibility for justice,

Harini Amarasuriya has been sworn in as Sri Lanka's new Prime Minister, the first woman to hold the post since 2000. Appointed by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, she will oversee multiple key portfolios.