Lagatar24 Desk
Colombo, July 20: The parliament of Sri Lanka will choose a new President to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who left the nation last week after irate demonstrators stormed his palace.
The winner of the three-way race to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa will lead an insolvent country, in bailout negotiations with the IMF, and home to 22 million people who are suffering from severe food, fuel, and medical shortages.
Days after forces rescued the leader from his besieged home, Rajapaksa announced his resignation from Singapore last Thursday, capping months of protests over an unprecedented economic crisis.
For today’s secret vote, Wickremesinghe (73) has the support of the Rajapaksas’ SLPP, the largest group in the 225-member parliament. He has extended the state of emergency, which gives the police and security forces broad authority, in his capacity as acting president.
Dullas Alahapperuma, a former journalist and SLPP rebel who is supported by the opposition, would be his primary opponent in the election. In a statement last week, Alahapperuma promised to establish “an actual consensual government for the first time in our history.”
Anura Dissanayake, 53, the head of the communist People’s Liberation Front (JVP), whose coalition holds three parliamentary seats, is the third candidate.
