Ranil Wickremesinghe elected as Sri Lanka's new President, succeeds Gotabaya Rajapaksa
By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 20, 2022, 12:54 PM ISTWickremesinghe received 134 votes in a three-cornered parliamentary vote, with his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma receiving 82 and socialist Anura Dissanayake receiving only three, giving him an overwhelming majority on first preferences.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, Sri Lanka's six-time prime minister, was decisively elected president on Wednesday to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the crisis-torn country and resigned last week. The country is in a tough condition, and we have significant difficulties ahead, according to Sri Lanka's newly appointed President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Wickremesinghe received 134 votes in a three-cornered parliamentary vote, with his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma receiving 82 and socialist Anura Dissanayake receiving only three, giving him an overwhelming majority on first preferences.
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The next President will be given the authority to complete Rajapaksa's tenure, which expires in November 2024. Sri Lanka's Parliament directly chose a president for the first time in 44 years. They were elected by popular vote in presidential elections in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2019.
Ranil Wickremesinghe's rise to power has been extraordinary. He ran unsuccessfully for president twice previously, but despite holding only one seat as head of the United National Party, he received enough votes among parliamentarians. Wickremesinghe has also lately negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and works with important donor countries such as India.
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As acting president, he declared a state of emergency in the country, giving police and security personnel broad authority. This occurred when demonstrators stormed the President's official house. Wickremesinghe's major opponent was former education minister and SLPP renegade Dullas Alahapperuma, a former journalist who was backed by the opposition. Anura Dissanayake, 53, the chairman of the communist People's Liberation Front, was the third contender.
The 73-year-old is reviled by demonstrators, who perceive him as a Rajapaksa supporter and have called for his resignation as prime minister. Observers predict Wickremesinghe will repress the protesters harshly.
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