The election of this cacique to the supreme function marks the victory of the establishment on the street and testifies to the great influence that the Rajapaksa family preserves on Sri-Lankan political life.
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It was the ambition of a lifetime. The acting president, Ranil Wickremesinga, was finally elected head of state by the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Wednesday July 20, despite a fierce opposition from the street. Thanks to the support of the clan of his predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, pushed to resign by a citizen movement last week, Ranil Wickremesinga obtained an overwhelming majority. An election which marks the victory of the establishment on the street and which testifies to the great influence which the Rajapaksa family preserves on political life.
The main opposition candidate, Sajith Premadasa, had nevertheless withdrawn in favor of Dullas Alahapperuma, from the ranks of the Rajapaksa party but perceived as less questionable. This front will not have been enough to counter Ranil Wickremesinga, whose ability to maneuver within the arcane of power regularly earned it to be described as “fox” by the Sri Lankans.
“Parliament is my whole life, I spent forty-five years there,” said the new president, addressing the deputies after his victory. The accession to the supreme function of Mr. Wickremesinga on Wednesday, devotes the final objective of his political career. The 73 -year -old man belongs to one of the great political dynasties of Sri Lanka. He was only 27 years old when he entered the government of his uncle, Junius Jayewardene, as Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, underlines Austin Fernando, defense secretary from 2001 to 2003, under the government of Ranil Wickremesinga. Minister six times since the 1990s, without ever ending up a single mandates. 2> “A crook in tie costume”
This victory also marks a spectacular political return. During the 2020 legislative elections, his party, the United National Party, one of the oldest in the country, had been decimated, failing to win a single seat in Parliament. The many detractors of Mr. Wickremesinga therefore criticize him for a lack of democratic legitimacy. “The people can question their election from an ethical point of view, but they were elected according to the provisions provided for by the Constitution,” said Austin Fernando, defense secretary from 2001 to 2003, under the government of Ranil Wickremesinga.
“The whole of his political career was done on strategic agreements”, regrets, for his part, Harini Amarasuriya, deputy of the National People’s Power. This tendency to go through political agreements is also worth Mr. Wickremesinga to be nicknamed “Ranil Deal” by the demonstrators.
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