Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday elected as Sri Lanka’s new President by Parliament, following a high-voltage political drama that saw his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing the country and resigning after a popular uprising against his government for mismanaging the economy.
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.
This was for the first time in 44 years that Sri Lanka's Parliament directly elected a president. Presidential elections in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019 had elected them by popular vote.
The only previous occasion when the presidency became vacant mid-term was in 1993 when president Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated. DB Wijetunga was unanimously endorsed by Parliament to run the balance of Premadasa’s term.
Ranil Wickremesinghe, dissident ruling party leader Dullas Alahapperuma and leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake were proposed by lawmakers on Tuesday as the three candidates for the presidential election.
It was important for a candidate to cross the magical figure of 113 in the 225-member House to win the election. The new President will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024.
In the crucial election, 223 lawmakers voted while two MPs abstained.
Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was the first to vote. The two senior Rajapaksa brothers - Mahinda and Chamal - were also present during the voting.