Ranil Wickremesinghe elected the new Sri Lanka President

Sri Lanka, in the throes of economic ruin, has elected its new President, and it's none other than Ranil Wickremesinghe. The President's post has been vacant since Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country.  

Ranil Wickremesinghe took over as the acting President after Gotabaya Rajapaksa reached Singapore and resigned from the post. There is no consensus on who will be the next Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.  

The numbers: Wickremesinghe won the race with 134 votes. He beat his main rival, SLPP dissident and former Education Minister Dullas Alahapperuma, who secured 82 votes. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was also running for the President's post but withdrew last moment to support Alahapperuma. He decided to contest as the Prime Minister. 

Wickremesinghe, addressing the Parliament, asked the Speaker to allow him to take the oath and said that he's willing to start discussions with parties from tomorrow. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe will complete Gotabaya Rajapaksa's tenure in the President's position. The next general elections will be held in 2024. 

Recap: For the first time since 1978, the Sri Lankan Parliament voted to elect the President. A total of 223 MPs including the Speaker voted to elect a new President by a secret ballot. 

However, the new President Ranil Wickremesinghe isn't exactly in the best books of the people of Sri Lanka who sent his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fleeing. The protesters, who had demanded Gotabaya's resignation, had also demanded Wickremesinghe quit the government. 

The protesters had even torched the private residence of Wickremesinghe. Back then, reports had emerged that Wickremesinghe had "decided" to resign as the PM as soon as a new government was formed. However, that seems like a forgotten promise now. 

Ranil Wickremesinghe had taken over as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in May 2022 after Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned over pressure from the public. He has since promised to turn around Sri Lanka's economy for the good. 

Context: Ranil Wickremesinghe is known for his close ties to the Rajapaksa dynasty, who are largely blamed for mismanaging the country's economy, stealing the country's wealth, and running the government like a family business. 

1. When I took over as Prime Minister on May 13th, the economy had collapsed, with power cuts lasting 5 hours a day. In the 2 months since then, power cuts had been reduced to 3 hours a day, fertilizer has been provided to the farmers and the gas shortage has been solved.

— Ranil Wickremesinghe (@RW_UNP) July 18, 2022

Daily Mirror Sri Lanka reports that Ranil Wickremesinghe had clear support from the MPs before the voting began, who confirmed via personal discussions and telephone calls. The Parliament reportedly found favour with Wickremesinghe's outline to get Sri Lanka's economy back on track. He also assured opposition leaders of their safety and security. 

As of now, security remains beefed up outside the Parliament and around the Galle Face Green to prevent protesters from rioting in the area.