{"id":78650,"date":"2022-07-20T00:54:30","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T04:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=78650"},"modified":"2022-07-20T06:13:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T10:13:14","slug":"six-time-prime-minister-and-acting-president-ranil-wickremesinghe-elected-president-by-the-sri-lanka-parliament-on-july-20-defeats-dullas-alahapperum-by-134-votes-to-82-while-anura-kumara-dissanaya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=78650","title":{"rendered":"Six-time Prime Minister and acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe elected President by the Sri Lanka Parliament on July 20; Defeats Dullas Alahapperuma by 134 Votes to 82 While Anura Kumara Dissanayake gets 3 Votes"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Meera Srinivasan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Six-time Prime Minister and acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on July 20 elected President of Sri Lanka \u2014 a post that has eluded him despite a near-half century political career \u2014 in extraordinary circumstances of a political crisis triggered by the island\u2019s economic crash.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wickremesinghe won 134 votes in the 225-member Parliament, securing a comfortable victory margin in a three-way contest. Dullas Alahapperuma, a formerly Rajapaksa-aligned, now independent MP, won 82 votes, despite several independent lawmakers, the main opposition, and most minority parties pledging to back him on Tuesday. The leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna\u2019s candidate Anura Kumara Dissanayake won just three votes. Two MPs abstained from the vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time for division is over,\u201d Mr. Wickremesinghe said in his first remarks after clinching Presidency. He urged all political parties to come together to take the country on the path of economic recovery.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Third elevation for Wickremesinghe<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the third unlikely elevation this year for Mr. Wickremesinghe, 73, since Sri Lanka\u2019s economic crisis worsened. The sole member of his United National Party (UNP) in Parliament, Mr. Wickremesinghe entered the current Parliament not through a poll victory in his constituency, but through the national list, based on the party\u2019s total vote share in the 2020 general elections. <\/p>\n

On May 12, recently ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him as Prime Minister, replacing Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had resigned days earlier, in the wake of violence triggered by his protesters who assaulted peaceful anti-government protesters. On July 13, Mr. Wickremesinghe was appointed Acting President, just ahead of Mr. Gotabaya\u2019s resignation after he fled the island and took refuge in the Maldives, and later Singapore, after protesters stormed his office and home in an escalation of mass resistance to his government.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wickremesinghe will helm the country during its worst economic crisis since Independence, which has put citizens amidst crippling shortages and soaring living costs. However, his election comes amid enduring public protests from citizens\u2019 groups that accuse him of being a Rajapaksa \u201cenabler\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr. Wickremesinghe has denied the charge, and said he took the PM\u2019s post only to set the country\u2019s economy in order. In a Twitter thread on Monday, Mr. Wickremesinghe claimed power cuts and fuel distribution had improved since he took charge as Premier in May, although thousands of citizens are still braving long queues for days together to purchase fuel. <\/p>\n

\u201cI call upon all political parties in the country to put aside their differences and come together. I urge everyone to help form an All-Party Government which would allow the country to recover from the economic crisis,\u201d he had said.<\/p>\n

Following the passage of the 20th Amendment by the Rajapaksa government in 2020, Sri Lanka\u2019s President enjoys unbridled powers and greater immunity. Mr. Wickremesinghe has pledged to bring about constitutional changes to clip the Executive\u2019s powers and in turn empower the Parliament.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:The Hindu<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Meera Srinivasan Six-time Prime Minister and acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was on July 20 elected President of Sri Lanka \u2014 a post that has eluded him despite a near-half century political career \u2014 in extraordinary circumstances of a political crisis triggered by the island\u2019s economic crash. Mr. Wickremesinghe won 134 votes in the 225-member …<\/p>\n

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