Six-time Sri Lanka Prime Minister and the acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe won the presidential election on Wednesday by 134 votes.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe will replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa who fled from the country. Wickremesinghe will remain president until 2024. Wickremesinghe has served as the Prime Minister of the island nation six times.
Moreover, Wickremesinghe’s main opponent was SLPP parliamentarian Dullas Alahaperuma, who received 82 votes, while National People’s Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake received three votes in the Presidential election.
After the counting of the votes, the secretary general of parliament said, “Ranil Wickremesinghe has been elected as the eighth executive president under the constitution.”
Earlier, after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled from the country, Wickremesinghe was appointed as the new President.
Earlier on July 9, President Rajapaksa fled from his official residence in Colombo. Many dramatic visuals came from his official home, where people played carrom board, slept on the sofa, enjoyed the park and cooked dinner.
The country’s 22 million population suffers from its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948. The oil supply shortage has forced the closure of schools and government offices until further notice.