Sri Lanka’s six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected new president with overwhelming majority to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the crisis-wracked country and resigned last week.
Wickremesinghe got 134 votes in a three-cornered parliamentary vote while his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma received only 82.
“Our divisions are now over,” Wickremesinghe said in a brief acceptance speech in parliament, inviting Alahapperuma “to join me and work together to bring the country out of the crisis we are facing”.
Wickremesinghe is expected to be sworn in later in the day at a simple ceremony within the tightly guarded parliament building.
With the elevation of the 73-year-old to the top job, the current cabinet automatically stands dissolved and he will choose a prime minister to form a new cabinet.
Speaker Mahinda Abeywardana said the attention of the world was focused on the Sri Lankan legislature as it elected a leader to serve the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term ending November 2024.
About 225 members of Parliament including the speaker were eligible to vote on the ranked-choice ballot _ two members abstained while a few ballots were declared invalid.
