Wickremesinghe’s biggest task is to rescue Sri Lanka from the economic crisis that has brought the people to the streets to protest for weeks. In his acceptance speech, he hoped that the nation would unite before the task.
Multiple Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the next president of Sri Lanka. He got 134 votes and the ruling party Dullas Low oxygen waste 82 votes.
In an exceptional situation, the president was chosen by the parliament, because the previous president Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and sent his resignation letter.
Wickremesinghe has served as the country’s interim leader since last week. His future term of office will last until November 2024.
Normally, the president is elected by the people. Wickremesinghe has lost the presidential election twice before.
The choice was a disappointment for many Sri Lankans. Wickremesinghe has long been unpopular, and the protesters also wanted him to step down along with Rajapaksa. The people have been protesting in the country’s streets for months.
The protesters see Wickremesinghe as representing the same crowd as Rajapaksa and partly responsible for Sri Lanka’s descent into extreme economic crisis.
The group of demonstrators waited for the voting result tensely, some praying, reports news agency AFP. The result was disappointing.
– Ranil, go home! protesters chanted outside the president’s official residence.
– We lost – the whole country lost. Politicians fight for their power, not for the people. They don’t have feelings for people who suffer, says the actor who regularly participated in protests Damitha Abeyrathne for AFP.
People celebrating Wickremesinghe’s victory were also seen there. Wickremesinghe thanked his voters in parliament and I hope the people will join their ranks.
– Our country is facing massive challenges, and we have to make a new strategy to meet the people’s wishes. It must be done together, the new president said in his acceptance speech.
Sri Lanka is in the worst economic crisis in decades, and citizens are blaming the administration. 22 million people suffer from shortages of medicine, fuel and food. The UN has warned that the country is close to a humanitarian crisis.
There are many reasons behind the difficulties. The corona pandemic collapsed the country’s tourism and more than half of the crops were lost when former President Rajapaksa banned the import of chemical fertilizers last year.
Wickremesinghe is an experienced politician and has spent 45 years of his life in Parliament. Moni sees the tail as a shrewd operator who has managed to cling to his position even though his party suffered a bad defeat in the 2020 elections, says BBC (switch to another service).
Now his task is to lead the country from economic disaster to drought. Member of Parliament Sagara Kariyawasam said on Wednesday that only Wickremesinghe has the experience and ability to provide solutions to the economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe said on Monday that financing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are nearing completion, discussions on bilateral aid with Japan, China and India have taken place and the government would have taken steps to solve the fuel and gas shortage.
According to the news agency AP, the IMF has not commented on the progress of the negotiations.
According to a BBC analysis, it remains to be seen whether the protesters will accept as the country’s savior a man they see as part of the same political elite responsible for past economic mismanagement.
Wickremesinghe will also appoint a new prime minister. This is believed to continue his economic policy line and painful reforms.