The Sri Lankan Parliament has appointed former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as its new president. This was reported by international news agencies on Wednesday. Wickremesinghe was prime minister of the South Asian country under the previous president, who was under heavy fire from the population. The new president is also not equally popular with all voters: last week demonstrators stormed his office out of resentment against the economic government policy.
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Nevertheless, a parliamentary majority approved his candidacy. Wickremesinghe received 134 votes in the 225-seat parliament. The main opposition candidate received 82 votes. “I thank parliament for this honour,” said the 73-year-old new president, according to Reuters news agency. Wickremesinghe has a lot of political experience: before his presidency, he served six terms as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.
Last week, he was appointed as the country’s interim president. Wickremesinghe took the honors because his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country. He went to the capital of the Maldives after his residence was stormed by anti-government protesters.
His brother Basil Rajapaksa — who is also the finance minister — has also fled Sri Lanka. The country is suffering from an economic malaise, for which many protesters hold the government responsible.