Ranil Wickremesinga, interim president of Sri Lanka, was elected president Wednesday, July 20, by an overwhelming majority by Parliament to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa who resigned last week after fleeing his bankrupt country.
Six-time Prime Minister Wickremesinga won 134 votes, according to official results, against 82 for his main opponent, Dullas Alahapperuma, and only three for the left-wing candidate, Anura Dissanayake. “Ranil Wickremesinga was elected as the eighth executive president under the Constitution”said the secretary general of the Parliament after the end of the count.
He should officially be sworn in on Thursday July 21. The new president spoke of a simple ceremony in the parliament building, placed on Wednesday under close surveillance by hundreds of soldiers and police.
The new president promises “firmness”
“Our divisions are now over”, said Mr Wickremesinga shortly after being elected, in a speech to Parliament. Ranil Wickremesinga’s victory, which many Sri Lankans oppose, could lead to further protests against the ruling elite, after months of severe shortages of fuel, food and medicine, several protesters said.
His main rival, Dullas Alahapperuma, a member of the ruling party, was more popular with protesters and the opposition, but he had no experience of high governance, in a country that has almost no dollars for imports. and which desperately needs a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Conversely, Ranil Wickremesinga is hated by the demonstrators, who consider him an ally and protector of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The latter fled the anger of his people on July 9 in the Maldives before finding refuge in Singapore, from where he tendered his resignation.
Outside the presidential office – where protesters had been camping for months before getting Gotabaya out – Damitha Abeyrathne, a 45-year-old actress, believes the movement will continue. ” We have lost. The whole country has lost”she commented to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Politicians fight for their power. They don’t fight for the people, they don’t feel for those who suffer. »
On Wednesday evening, the new president warned against resorting to undemocratic means similar to those which led to the ousting of his predecessor. “If we try to overthrow the government, occupy the president’s office and the prime minister’s office, it’s not about democracy, and we will deal with those with firmness”he said after a visit to a Buddhist temple. “I am not a friend of the Rajapaksa, I am a friend of the people”he insisted.
The demonstrators who occupy part of the president’s office have been ordered to leave the premises by Wednesday evening, on pain of being expelled. According to a senior police official, anyone damaging public property will be severely punished. Some observers expect Mr. Wickremesinga to crack down harshly on any protests.
Economic crisis
Mr. Wickremesinga, whose lifelong ambition is thus realized, enjoyed the support of the SLPP, the party of the Rajapaksa, the first party in parliament by number of seats. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gotabaya’s elder brother and head of the family clan, is still in the country and, according to party sources, pressured MPs to support Mr Wickremesinga.
As soon as he was elected, the new president called on his unfortunate rival, Mr. Alahapperuma, 63, to “join in order to work together to get the country out of the crisis”. He inherits a country of 22 million inhabitants, ravaged by the economic crisis. The island, which defaulted in April on its foreign debt of 51 billion dollars, does not even have enough foreign currency to finance its essential imports, and hopes for a rescue plan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Mr Wickremesinga, elected for the remaining period of Mr Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024, must now choose a prime minister to form a government. He could name his former classmate Dinesh Gunawardena, a former civil service minister, and staunch supporter of the Rajapaksa clan.