Roving Periscope: Ranil elected President; Sri Lanka’s chaos may intensify
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Crisis-ridden Sri Lanka’s ongoing chaos is unlikely to end soon with the mid-term “election” of Ranil Wickremesinghe, 73, as stop-gap President on Wednesday.
They have elected him in place of ousted and fugitive President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose term was to end in 2024. Wickremesinghe is likely to be sworn in later on Wednesday.
Irate mobs had already been protesting against Wickremesinghe’s election, as they saw him as a proxy to the unpopular and ousted President. By welcoming his “victory,” the Rajapaksa dynasty’s pocket outfit, Sri Lanka Podujana Perumuna (SLPP), has heightened tension for Wickremesinghe to deliver soon. He now wears a crown of thorns.
Immediately after being elected, protests erupted outside his home and offices as he tried to pacify the people, saying the country was in a “very difficult situation” and the government had big challenges ahead. “Our divisions are now over,” he said in an acceptance-cum-reconciliation speech after the result.
A six-time Prime Minister, Wickremesinghe polled 134 first-preference votes in a three-cornered election in a house of 225 Members of Parliament (MPs). His main opponent, Dullas Alahapperuma, got 82 votes, and the third rival, leftist leader Anura Dissanayake, got just three.
The new President invited Alahapperuma “to join me and work together to bring the country out of the crisis we are facing.”
The septuagenarian leader will take charge of a bankrupt nation in bailout talks with the IMF, with its 22 million people enduring severe shortages of food, fuel, and medicine since March this year.
But the protesters despise him. They had forced his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa from his palace early this month after months of demonstrations over an unprecedented economic crisis as an ally of the former leader. The Rajapaksa-led SLPP party, the largest in parliament, backed Wickremesinghe for the presidency.
He has pledged to crack down hard if protesters take to the streets, and hundreds of heavily armed troops and police stood guard outside the parliament, but there were no signs of demonstrators.
The media reported a crisis with no easy solution. These include a fuel shortage, rising global food prices, and the shock of erratic climate patterns, compounded by crushing policy mistakes and the coronavirus pandemic.
Wickremesinghe’s rise to power has been remarkable. He ran unsuccessfully twice for the presidency, but this time he secured enough votes among lawmakers despite controlling just one seat—as leader of the United National Party (UNP).
His experience in senior government positions and a reputation as a shrewd operator that earned him the nickname “the fox” may count in his favor as he seeks a way out of Sri Lanka’s devastating economic crisis. He has also recently negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and enjoys a working relationship with key donor countries, including India.
