Ranil Wickremesinghe
Photo : ANI
Wickremesinghe, 73, was sworn in as the 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka at the Parliament complex before Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya.
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Late D B Wijetunga was elected uncontested in May 1993 after the demise of R Premadasa who was the then President.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister, was elected as Sri Lanka’s President by lawmakers on Wednesday, in a rare move that could provide continuity for crucial discussions with the IMF for a bailout deal for the cash-strapped nation.
He 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 leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake secured just three votes during the voting held in Parliament amidst tight security.
He faces the task of leading the country out of its economic collapse and restoring order after months of mass protests.
A Cabinet of 20-25 members will be appointed within the next few days to serve under President Wickremesinghe, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.
Wickremesinghe’s victory could inflame the situation once again as many anti-government protesters see him as inextricably tied to the erstwhile Rajapaksa regime, blamed for the country’s worst economic crisis since independence in 1948.
A few hundred protesters quickly gathered after Wickremesinghe was elected as president to express their outrage as they see him as part of the problematic political establishment.
Wickremesinghe will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024.
