A senior member of Sri Lanka's ruling party Dissanayake Mudiyanselage Jayaratne is to be sworn in as the new prime minister, official sources confirmed Wednesday.

Jayaratne, 79, is to replace former Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake. Jayaratne entered parliament in 1970 and has held several senior ministerial positions.

Analysts said that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had recognized Jayaratne's loyalty to Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the dominant party in the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance in opting for him over several others including the president's brother Basil Rajapaksa.

The post of prime minister is largely symbolic in the island's executive presidential system of government.