Colombo: Sri Lanka’s parliament will choose between three presidential candidates on Wednesday, with hopes the new leader will be able to lift the island out of its worst economic and political crisis since independence in 1948.
But the acting president’s victory Ranil WickremesingheOne of the main two contenders, but opposed by many ordinary Sri Lankans, could lead to further demonstrations by those furious with the ruling elite after months of severe shortages of fuel, food and medicines.
ruling party legislator dulce alhapparumaA former journalist, more acceptable to protesters and the opposition, but has no experience of top-level governance in a country with barely any dollars for imports and desperately in need of an IMF bailout.
The third candidate, Anura Kumara Disnayaka, leader of the leftist Janata Vimukti Peramuna Party, has only three seats in Parliament and has no real chances of winning.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, became acting president last week after the then incumbent, Gotabaya RajapaksaSingaporeans fled when protesters seized his official residence and office, roaming the corridors, using his gym and swimming in his pool.
The protesters also torched Wickremesinghe’s private house and stormed his office, but failed to oust him. Wickremesinghe said this week that by the time he joined the current government as prime minister in May, the economy had collapsed.
Sri Lankans have blamed Rajapaksa – seven of the family members were in government until April – for the recession. His decisions to cut taxes and ban chemical fertilizers that damage crops have ravaged the debt-ridden economy, which was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was not immediately clear how much support Wickremesinghe, 73, and 63-year-old Alhapparuma, seen as allies of the Rajapaksa clan, have in the 225-seat parliament.
Wickremesinghe is supported by a section of the ruling party, which had a total of 145 seats in 2020 as of the last parliamentary election. Alhapparuma has the support of the second class as well as the main opposition party, which won 54 seats in the last round.
The latest figures are not clear as some MLAs have turned independent.
“Earlier Ranil Wickremesinghe was at the fore, but now the outcome is much more uncertain,” said political scientist Jaydev Uyangoda.
“Parliament’s balance of power has shifted away from him. The result depends on how much control Rajapaksa has over the members of his own party.”
In 1993, Sri Lanka’s parliament unanimously elected DB Wijetunga to end the assassinated president’s term. ransinghe premadasa, This time three candidates are in the fray to complete Rajapaksa’s term that ends in 2024.
“This will be marked as a new experience in the parliamentary history of this country,” a statement from the parliament’s communications chief said.
The candidate who obtains more than one third of the valid votes polled shall be declared elected. If no candidate reaches the mark, the person with the fewest votes will be eliminated from the contest and the preferences of the MPs will be taken into account to reach the eventual winner.
Whatever the process, the protesters are clear that they want Wickremesinghe to leave. Wickremesinghe, for his part, imposed a state of emergency on Monday, giving him more powers to initiate action when he felt the need.
Duminda Nagamuwa, who protested in Colombo after the nomination was finalised, said, “We are again opposing Ranil. He is a corrupt person.”
“If Ranil comes (to power), we cannot have stability.”
But the acting president’s victory Ranil WickremesingheOne of the main two contenders, but opposed by many ordinary Sri Lankans, could lead to further demonstrations by those furious with the ruling elite after months of severe shortages of fuel, food and medicines.
ruling party legislator dulce alhapparumaA former journalist, more acceptable to protesters and the opposition, but has no experience of top-level governance in a country with barely any dollars for imports and desperately in need of an IMF bailout.
The third candidate, Anura Kumara Disnayaka, leader of the leftist Janata Vimukti Peramuna Party, has only three seats in Parliament and has no real chances of winning.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, became acting president last week after the then incumbent, Gotabaya RajapaksaSingaporeans fled when protesters seized his official residence and office, roaming the corridors, using his gym and swimming in his pool.
The protesters also torched Wickremesinghe’s private house and stormed his office, but failed to oust him. Wickremesinghe said this week that by the time he joined the current government as prime minister in May, the economy had collapsed.
Sri Lankans have blamed Rajapaksa – seven of the family members were in government until April – for the recession. His decisions to cut taxes and ban chemical fertilizers that damage crops have ravaged the debt-ridden economy, which was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was not immediately clear how much support Wickremesinghe, 73, and 63-year-old Alhapparuma, seen as allies of the Rajapaksa clan, have in the 225-seat parliament.
Wickremesinghe is supported by a section of the ruling party, which had a total of 145 seats in 2020 as of the last parliamentary election. Alhapparuma has the support of the second class as well as the main opposition party, which won 54 seats in the last round.
The latest figures are not clear as some MLAs have turned independent.
“Earlier Ranil Wickremesinghe was at the fore, but now the outcome is much more uncertain,” said political scientist Jaydev Uyangoda.
“Parliament’s balance of power has shifted away from him. The result depends on how much control Rajapaksa has over the members of his own party.”
In 1993, Sri Lanka’s parliament unanimously elected DB Wijetunga to end the assassinated president’s term. ransinghe premadasa, This time three candidates are in the fray to complete Rajapaksa’s term that ends in 2024.
“This will be marked as a new experience in the parliamentary history of this country,” a statement from the parliament’s communications chief said.
The candidate who obtains more than one third of the valid votes polled shall be declared elected. If no candidate reaches the mark, the person with the fewest votes will be eliminated from the contest and the preferences of the MPs will be taken into account to reach the eventual winner.
Whatever the process, the protesters are clear that they want Wickremesinghe to leave. Wickremesinghe, for his part, imposed a state of emergency on Monday, giving him more powers to initiate action when he felt the need.
Duminda Nagamuwa, who protested in Colombo after the nomination was finalised, said, “We are again opposing Ranil. He is a corrupt person.”
“If Ranil comes (to power), we cannot have stability.”