Under heavy security, Sri Lankan MPs held a vote in parliament on Wednesday to select one of three candidates to be the country’s next president in the hopes that the next president would help the island escape a dire economic and political situation.
Many common Sri Lankans reject one of the top two candidates, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and if he wins, there may be additional protests by disgruntled citizens after months of acute fuel, food, and medicine shortages, according to several demonstrators.
Around the parliament building, which was roughly 13 km (8 miles) distant, hundreds of police, paramilitary, and military personnel were stationed, and an approach route had at least three barricades. Armed military jeeps and armored vehicles were placed around the building’s perimeter, as security guards in speed boats patrolled a nearby lake.
Earlier this month, protesters took over the presidential secretariat and the official president’s mansion, compelling the country’s then-president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to leave.
Earlier this month, protesters took over the presidential secretariat and the official president’s mansion, compelling the country’s then-president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, to leave.
Many demonstrators view Wickremesinghe as a supporter of the Rajapaksa family, and they have attacked both his private residence and office.
After Rajapaksa took a military plane to the Maldives and then a commercial flight to Singapore, Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, was named interim president last week.
A nephew and two of Rajapaksa’s brothers, including former president and prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, were present as the 225-member parliament gathered to vote. Before a winner is announced, the procedure is predicted to take hours.
Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the head of the left-leaning Janatha Vimukti Peramuna party, is the third candidate in the race. But with only three seats held by his party in the 225-member parliament, he has no chance in hell of winning.
President Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated in 1993, and D.B. Wijetunga was unanimously selected by Sri Lanka’s parliament to complete his term. Three contenders are vying to finish Rajapaksa’s tenure, which expires in 2024, this time.
According to a statement from the communications director of parliament, the procedure “will be recorded as an unprecedented experience in the parliamentary history of this country.”
A candidate will be deemed elected if they receive more than one-third of the valid votes cast. If no candidate receives the required number of votes, the one with the fewest votes will be withdrawn from the race, and parliamentarians’ preferences will be taken into consideration to determine the eventual victor.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
