Many demonstrators saw Wickremesinghe as a supporter of the Rajapaksa clan.
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| Image: Sri Lankan Flag |
COLOMBO, SRI LANKA: Sri Lanka's acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the country's next president until 2024, a government vote count showed on Wednesday.
Sri Lankan lawmakers voted in government on Wednesday to choose the next president from three (people who might win a fight/contest)amid tight security, hoping the new leader would pull the island out of a very damaging money-based and serious political problem.
A win for acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the main two (people who might win a fight/contest) but argued/against by many ordinary Sri Lankans, could lead to more (acts of showing or proving) by people extremely angry with the ruling elite after months of extreme shortages of fuel, food and medicines, (more than two, but not a lot of) protesters have said.
The other main candidate, ruling party lawmaker Dallas Alahapperuma, is more acceptable to the protesters and the (fighting force/bad feelings) but does not have any top-level authority and control experience in a country with barely any dollars for imports and (very much/in an upset, hopeless way) in need of an IMF save/rescue.
"We are here to send our good feelings to the lawmakers so that they can do the right thing, elect the right president so that we can come out of this problem," said Namal Jayaweera, one of (more than two, but not a lot of) dozen people sitting on the steps of the presidential (office of secretaries), waiting for the result.
Hundreds of police, military-helping and military troops were sent out and used around the government building, about 13 km (8 miles) away, and an approach road had at least three physically blocks. Security personnel in speed boats patrolled a lake around the building, and military jeeps and (protected by metal or another covering) vehicles stood parked within the outside border.
Protesters occupied the presidential (office of secretaries) earlier this month along with the official president's residence, forcing the then (person who's currently an elected official) Gotabaya Rajapaksa to run (away from) the country.
Many protesters see Wickremesinghe as a friend of the Rajapaksa family, and his private house and office were also stormed by people demanding his throwing-out.
Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, became temporary president last week after Rajapaksa ran away/escaped on a military plane to the Maldives and then took a commercial flight to Singapore.
Two of Rajapaksa's brothers, including the former prime minister and president Mahinda Rajapaksa, as well as a nephew were in attendance as the 225-member government gathered for the vote. The process is expected to take hours before a winner is declared.
There is a third candidate in the contest - Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the leader of the leftist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna party. But his party commands only three seats in the 225-member government and he has no realistic chance of winning.
CLOSE CONTEST
It was not clear how much support 73-year-old Wickremesinghe and 63-year-old Alahapperuma have in government.
Wickremesinghe is supported by a section of the ruling party that had a total of 145 seats as of the last (related to elected lawmakers) election in 2020. Alahapperuma has the support of the other section as well as the main (fighting force/bad feelings) party that won 54 seats last time around. (more than two, but not a lot of) small parties have promised to support him also.
The latest numbers are not clear because some lawmakers have become independents.
"Earlier Ranil Wickremesinghe was the front-runner but now the result is much more uncertain," said political scientist Jayadeva Uyangoda.
"The balance of government power has shifted away from him. The result is dependent on how much control the Rajapaksas have ... over their party members."
Sri Lanka's government in 1993 (every single person agrees) chose D.B. Wijetunga to finish the (length of time at work or in power/right to permanent employment) of killed President Ranasinghe Premadasa. This time three candidates are in the fight to complete Rajapaksa's term, scheduled to end in 2024.
"It will be marked as a new experience in the (related to elected lawmakers) history of this country," a statement from the communication chief of government said, laying out the procedure.
A candidate getting more than one-third of the valid votes cast will be declared elected. If no candidate reaches the mark, the one with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated from the competition and the preferences of lawmakers taken into account to eventually arrive at a winner