COLOMBO – Sri Lanka\u2019s six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday overwhelmingly elected as president to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the crisis-wracked country and resigned last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Official results showed Wickremesinghe polled 134 votes in a three-cornered parliamentary vote, with his main opponent Dullas Alahapperuma getting 82 and leftist Anura Dissanayake just three — giving him an absolute majority on first preferences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our divisions are now over,” Wickremesinghe said in a brief acceptance speech in parliament, inviting Alahapperuma “to join me and work together to bring the country out of the crisis we are facing”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he hoped to be sworn in later Wednesday at a simple ceremony within the tightly guarded parliament building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the elevation of the 73-year-old to the top job, the current cabinet automatically stands dissolved and he will choose a prime minister to form a new cabinet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaker Mahinda Abeywardana said the attention of the world was focused on the Sri Lankan legislature as it elected a leader to serve the balance period of Rajapaksa\u2019s term ending November 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka\u2019s six-time prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Wednesday overwhelmingly elected as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[216,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19489","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n