Ranil Wickremesinghe wins Sri Lanka President poll with 134 votes

Mangalore Today News Network

Colombo, July 20, 2022: Ranil Wickremesinghe became Sri Lanka’s ninth President after winning the Presidential poll on Wednesday, July 20. He raked in 134 votes.

 

Ranil Wickremesinghe assumes the President’s chair amid massive protests against him. Earlier, his private residence was set on fire and his official residence, when he was the Prime Minister, was stormed by protesters, who demanded that he step down.

Right after winning the election on Wednesday, he addressed the speaker and sought permission from the Speaker to take oath outside the Parliament chamber within the Parliament complex. He assured the Opposition that he would work with all parties to bail Sri Lanka out of the unprecedented economic crisis.

The first major challenge for Ranil Wickremesinghe would be to quell protests and overcome the anti-incumbency among the public. Ever since the agitation in Sri Lanka began, the protesters have been constantly demanding his resignation first as the Prime Minister and then as the acting President, after he was handpicked by his predecessor for the post.

The protesters see him as someone close to the previous dispensation and hold him responsible as well for the current economic crisis. His ascent to the President’s post could spur the protesters to intensify protests.

Sri Lanka’s external debt amounts to a staggering amount of nearly $51 billion. Wickremesinghe’s first task in office would be to convince the International Monetary Fund to provide a bailout package. But the task would not be easy as the IMF has said that Sri Lanka would have to work a lot more on its debt restructuring and implement anti-corruption measures before such a package is finalised.

Courtesy: India Today