Colombo : Sri Lanka on Wednesday elected Ranil Wickremesinghe as its new president. In a 225-member parliament, Wickremesinghe defeated rival Dullus Alahaperuma with 134 votes to 82 in a parliamentary vote.
The country’s president Gotabaya Rajapaksha had fled the country after protesters raided his residence last week, first flying to Maldives and there on to Singapore.
Unpopular and largely viewed as a shrewd politician who clung to parliament despite his party losing all but a solo seat, Wickremesinghe faces the daunting of retrieving the country from economic collapse and restoring political turmoil. The country currently is in chaos with mass protests becoming order of the day following effective bankruptcy and food, fuel and supplies running dry.
