Sri Lanka’s Wickremesinghe to face low-profile legislator in tight presidential contest

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s main opposition leader withdrew from the presidential race on Tuesday and promised support to a low-profile politician from the ruling party who will take on acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe in a tight contest.

The 225-seat parliament votes on Wednesday to choose the new president, who will lead efforts to address the country’s economic and political collapse. The house finalised three candidates on Tuesday.

It was not immediately clear how much support the two leading candidates, 73-year-old Wickremesinghe and 63-year-old Dullas Alahapperuma, had in parliament.

Wickremesinghe is deeply unpopular among protesters who stormed his office and official residence earlier this month when he was prime minister, along with those of ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Nevertheless, Wickremesinghe is backed by a faction of the ruling party to be president.

Sri Lankan parliament votes today to choose new leader

Former journalist and five-time lawmaker Alahapperuma has the support of a separate faction of the ruling Sri Lanka Podu­jana Peramuna (SLPP) party as we all many in the opposition.

Protesters, angered by months-long shortages of fuel and food and rocketing prices after the country nearly ran out of dollars for imports, came out on the streets on Tuesday against Wickremesinghe’s candidacy.

Outside Colombo’s main railway station, a group of several hundred protesters shouted slogans against the Rajapaksa family and Wickremesinghe, who they see as the family’s candidate.

“We are protesting again Ranil. He is a corrupted man,” said Duminda Nagamuwa, one of the protest organisers. “If Ranil comes we cannot have stability.” As parliament met to finalise nominees for the post, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said he had dropped out of the race and would support Alahapperuma.

“For the greater good of my country that I love and the people I cherish, I hereby withdraw my candidacy for the position of president,” Premadasa said on Twitter.

He said his main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya party and “our alliance and our opposition partners will work hard towards making” Alahapperuma the winner.