Picture : Twitter/ ANI
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the new President Of Sri Lanka by the parliament. The 73-year-old six-time prime minister secured 134 votes in the 225-member House while his nearest rival and dissident ruling party leader Dullas Alahapperuma got 82. Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured just three votes.
The new president will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024.
The country is in a very difficult situation, we have big challenges ahead, says Sri Lanka’s newly appointed President Ranil Wickremesinghe was quoted as saying by Reuters
This is for the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka’s parliament has directly elected a president. Presidential elections in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019 had elected them by popular vote.
The election to the post of President became necessary following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who flew to Singapore via the Maldives, amid an unprecedented economic crisis that has led to a shortage of fuel of and other essentials in the country.
Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe is among the top three candidates for the Presidential election scheduled to be held in the crisis-marred island nation .
The other two candidates are Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) parliamentarian Dullas Alahaperuma and National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Sri Lanka’s main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday withdrew his candidature from the presidential race and said he is supporting rival candidate Dullas Alahapperuma for the top post.
