Sri Lanka’s parliament votes Wednesday for a president to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled abroad last week after his palace was stormed by angry protesters now bracing for a crackdown from his likely successor.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka –
Analysts say the frontrunner is Ranil Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister who became acting president after his predecessor resigned, but is despised by the protesters who see him as a Rajapaksa ally. Wickremesinghe, 73, has the backing of the Rajapaksas’ SLPP, the largest bloc in the 225-member parliament, for Wednesday’s secret ballot.
“Ranil has regained the acceptance of the urban middle classes by restoring some of the supplies like gas and he has already cleared government buildings showing his firmness,” Perera said. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the deposed Gotabaya’s elder brother and head of the clan that has dominated Sri Lankan politics for years, remains in the country, and party sources said he was pressing SLPP legislators to support Wickremesinghe.His main opponent in the vote will be SLPP dissident and former education minister Dullas Alahapperuma, a former journalist who is being supported by the opposition.
The third candidate is Anura Dissanayake, 53, leader of the leftist People’s Liberation Front , whose coalition has three parliamentary seats.