According to the official results, Mr. Wickremesinghe, who was six times Prime Minister, won 134 votes, against 82 to his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma.
Le Monde with AFP
Ranil Wickremesinghe, acting president of Sri Lanka, was elected on Wednesday July 20, president of an overwhelming majority by the Parliament to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned last week, after fled his country.
According to official results, Mr. Wickremesinghe, who was six times Prime Minister, won 134 votes, against 82 to his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma and only three for the left candidate Anura Dissanayake.
“Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as eighth executive president under the Constitution,” said the secretary general of the Parliament after the end of the count.
“Our divisions are completed”
“Our divisions are now finished,” said Wickremesinghe just after being elected, in a speech made before the Parliament. The victory of Ranil Wickremesinghe, which many Sri Lankans oppose, could lead to new demonstrations against the power elite, after months of serious shortages of fuel, food and drugs, said several demonstrators.
His main rival, Dullas Alahapperuma, member of the ruling party, was better appreciated by demonstrators and opposition, but he had no experience of high governance, in a country that has almost no more dollars For imports and which desperately needs a bailout of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).