Wickremesinghe assumes the charge of President

By Our Special Correspondent

Sri Lanka's interim president and veteran politician Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected president of Sri Lanka by parliament on Wednesday, as street protesters vowed to continue their aragalaya (struggle) and reiterated their demand for his resignation, calling him an accomplice of the discredited Rajapaksa regime.

Wickramasinghe will replace Gotabaya Rajapakse, who fled the country 10 days ago and resigned as public anger erupted in the streets over the country's worst financial crisis.

In fact, most support for Wickremesinghe came from Rajapakse's Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party, which saw a split in its ranks, but not enough to undermine Wickremesinghe's candidacy. He defeated the opposition-backed rebel leader of the SLPP, Dallas Alahapperuma.

In the 225-member assembly, Wickramasinghe got 134 votes, Alahapperuma got 82 and Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the left-wing Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) got three votes.

A candidate needs 113 seats in the 225-member House. But only 223 members voted two absent; there were four invalid votes.

Wickremesinghe, a six-time prime minister, will be sworn in at the Parliamentary Complex on Thursday and faces unprecedented fiscal challenges posed by a cash-strapped economy that has to negotiate with the International Monetary Fund. In fact, Wickremesinghe has indicated that his main concern is the economy, not reforming the executive presidency.

In his first post-election remarks, he tried to distance himself from the past: “People are not asking us for the old politics. I request that other opposition parties, including Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa and former presidents Mahinda Rajapaksa and Maithripala Sirisena, work together.

“We have been divided for the last 48 hours. That period is now over. We have to work together now," he added.