Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the new President of Sri Lanka on Wednesday. Acting President Wickremesinghe will replace Gotabaya Rajapakse, who fled the country amid public outrage amid the country’s worst economic crisis.
It is the first time in Sri Lanka’s 44-year history that the president is elected through parliamentary voting. Out of 224 MPs in the 225-member House, 134 voted in favor of Ranil.
Mr Wickremesinghe defeated Dullas Alahapperuma, a rebel leader of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) who is backed by the Opposition. Alahapperuma got 82 votes and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) got three votes.
Ranil Wickremesinghe has been the leader of the United National Party since 1994. He was the Leader of the Opposition twice and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka six times.
After being appointed as the new president, Ranil told parliament that the Sri Lankan economy would stabilize. However, protesters are not happy with the new president as many believe he is part of the political elite behind the country’s economic mismanagement.