Sri Lanka’s parliament has elected interim president Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new head of state. Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Dissanayake said in Colombo on Wednesday that he received the votes of 134 out of a total of 225 deputies. Two deputies abstained, four votes were invalid. Wickremesinghe is one of the most experienced politicians in his country and the only representative of the UNP party in Parliament.
The 73-year-old began his political career in parliament in 1977 and has been prime minister six times. He gained his first experience in government in 1978, when his uncle, then-President Junius Jayewardene, named him the youngest minister in the country at age 29. He is a trained lawyer and comes from a family of politicians. He was named interim president last week after his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled abroad with his wife on a military plane amid mass protests. For many, the Rajapaksa dynasty represents friendship and social injustice. Wickremesinghe is unpopular with protesters who consider him an ally of Rajapaksa. They announced that they will continue to protest against him.
Hope for the IMF
India’s southern island state, with its approximately 22 million people, is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades. Therefore, the government asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India, China, Russia and other countries, among others, for help. The country lacks fuel, cooking gas, medicine and food. The highly indebted country does not have the money to import important goods. High inflation and one-hour power outages also cause great resentment. The reasons for the crisis are manifold – including mismanagement and corruption, but also the fallout from the corona pandemic, which has hit the important tourism sector particularly hard. Because of the crisis, many people have been protesting against the political leadership for weeks.
Observers assume Wickremesinghe will crack down. Protesters had already called for Wickremesinghe to step down as prime minister in recent weeks, accusing him of protecting Rajapaksa’s interests. The newly elected president was also supported on Wednesday by Rajapaksa’s SLPP party, which has the largest parliamentary group. He is now expected to appoint Public Administration Minister Dinesh Gunawardena as the new prime minister. This is a school friend of Wickremesinghe and a faithful devotee of Rajapaksa.
Rajapaksa fled the country on 9 July. He later announced his resignation from Singapore. Former Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was sworn in as interim president following Rajapaksa’s resignation. The 73-year-old former president now takes over the former president’s official business, whose term would end in November 2024. (apa, dpa, R)