Six-time prime minister Wickremesinghe became the president of Sri Lanka .
Ranil Wickremesinghe ,
KYIV. UkraineGate. 20 . July . 2022 | World News .
Today, July 20, the Sri Lankan Parliament elected Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe as the 8th President of Sri Lanka .
Details
In a secret ballot that began this morning in the House of Representatives, members of parliament voted to elect the next president, the post left vacant by the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa last week.
Wickremesinghe, 73, was up against dissident (SLPP) former minister Dullas Alahapperume and National People’s Power (NPP) MP Anura Kumari Dissanayake in the election. His main opponent in the vote was Alahapperume, a former journalist who was supported by the opposition.
In the parliament consisting of 225 deputies, 223 people voted, 4 votes were declared invalid. Two members of parliament abstained during the vote.
Wickremesinghe was elected president with a total of 134 votes, while Alahapperume came second with 82 votes. Meanwhile, MP Dissanayake got 3 votes.
Addition
Wickremesinghe became active in politics in the mid-1970s, representing the United National Party (UNP), and entered parliament in 1977. He was the leader of the UNP since 1994. He held the position of prime minister six times, although he never served a full term.
His last and shortest term as prime minister was when former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him to the post on July 13 this year, after his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to resign amid growing public unrest over mismanagement and accusations of corruption.
The former president resigned from his position on July 14.
Source: Ukrgate
