The Parliamentwho will elect the president tomorrow in a secret ballot, announced that the incumbent president, Ranil Wickremesinghewill face the former Minister of Education, Dullas Alahapperumasupported by the main opposition party, and the leftist leader Anura Dissanayake.
Shortly before the announcement, the main opposition leader, Sajith Premadasawithdrew his candidacy in favor of Alahapperuma, a dissident from the ruling party.
The three candidates were officially nominated by the deputies during a session that lasted less than 10 minutes in the Parliament building, which was under strict surveillance.
Sri Lanka and the worst crisis in its history
Sri Lanka, located south of India and with 22 million inhabitants, is running out of gas and face a commodity shortages because it does not have foreign currency to finance the imports.
The severe economic crisis led Sri Lanka last April to fall into the non-payment of its external debt of 51,000 million dollars, and is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
After months of protests over the worst economic and political crisis in the country’s history, protesters stormed Rajapaksa’s palace on July 9, forcing him to flee to Maldives and last week he took refuge in Singapore, from where he presented his resignation.
After the resignation, Wickremesinghe, who has been prime minister six times, automatically became interim president and has the support of Rajapaksa’s party to keep that position.
Wickremesinghe renewed on Monday the state of emergency in the country ahead of Wednesday’s parliamentary vote to elect a president for the remainder of Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
