Colombo (AP) – Parliament in crisis nation Sri Lanka has elected acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the new head of state. Parliamentary Secretary General Dhammika Dissanayake said in Colombo on Wednesday that he received 134 votes out of a total of 225 MPs. Two MPs abstained, four votes invalid. After being elected, Wickremesinghe also asked the opposition to work together to find a strategy to fulfill the wishes of the people.
Wickremesinghe is one of the country’s most experienced politicians. The 73-year-old began his political career in parliament in 1977 and became prime minister six times. He is a trained lawyer and comes from a family of politicians.
He was appointed acting president last week after his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, fled abroad with his wife on a military plane amid massive protests.
Also announced a protest against Wickremesinghe
Wickremesinghe was unpopular with protesters who saw him as an ally of Rajapaksa. They had announced that they would continue to protest against him. However, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered protesters to stay at least 50 meters from the president’s office, where they have been protesting and setting up tents for weeks. Prior to that, police informed the court that protesters caused damage to property, including historic statues near the office.
Wickremesinghe won the presidential election against moderate representatives who wanted to work with the opposition.
India’s southern island nation of about 22 million people is experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades. Therefore, the government has requested, among others, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), India, China, Russia, and other countries. The country lacks fuel, cooking gas, medicine and food. The heavily indebted country lacked the money to import essential goods. High inflation and an hour-long power outage also caused great hatred. The reasons for the crisis are manifold – including mismanagement and corruption, but also the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the vital tourism sector hard. Because of the crisis, many people have been protesting against the political leadership for weeks.
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