Sri Lanka presidency a close contest after frontrunner pulls out | Elections News

Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe will face the opposition-backed Dullas Alahapperuma and Anura Kumara Dissanayake in Wednesday vote.

Colombo, Sri Lanka – Three candidates are in the race to be the next Sri Lankan president after former leader Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned last week over the island’s worst-ever economic crisis.

Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe will face the opposition-backed candidate Dullas Alahapperuma and Marxist party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the vote to be held on Wednesday, the parliament announced during a brief session on Tuesday.

Sajith Premadasa, who was earlier backed by the opposition as their candidate and was likely a frontrunner, has pulled out of the race.

Close race

Premadasa’s decision to withdraw from the race has made the election to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa a close contest.

The parliamentary session was held amid tight security although the protesters had announced they will not disrupt the meetings to elect the next president.

Alahapperuma is a former education minister and dissident parliamentarian from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), controlled by the powerful but now unpopular Rajapaksa clan.

Alahapperuma’s name was seconded by G L Peiris, the SLPP chairman, indicating a rift within the ruling coalition as many SLPP legislators are believed to be supporting Wickremesinghe too.

SLPP legislator Chandima Weerakkody told Al Jazeera his group of six MPs would vote for Alahapperuma.

Reports coming in that some party leaders have told their MPs to take pics through their mobiles of their ballot papers tomorrow to prove who they have voted for.

Tomorrow’s election is through a secret ballot. #SriLankaCrisis #SriLanka

— Jamila Husain (@Jamz5251) July 19, 2022

Wickremesinghe’s name was proposed by the ruling party leader in the parliament, Dinesh Gunawardena, who is likely to become the prime minister if the acting president wins the presidency.

Left-wing leader Dissanayake of the National Peoples’ Power party is the third candidate. Since the party has only three members in parliament, he is unlikely to be a challenger.

Analysts are of the opinion that Wickremesinghe is ahead in the race as a majority of legislators from the ruling SLPP are backing him.

 

Protest leaders had urged the opposition to field a united candidate to defeat Wickremesinghe, whose closeness with the Rajapaksas angers them.

The 76-year-old veteran leader stood his ground after becoming the prime minister in May and refused to resign, as demanded by the protesters.

Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, a legislator from the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) party which has 10 MPs – a decisive group – told Al Jazeera the party legislators will meet later on Tuesday to discuss which candidate to support.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which has 15 MPs within the ruling collation, has announced that it will abstain from the vote.

But since there is no unanimity in any Sri Lankan political party right now, it is not clear how many MPs would stick with party decisions when they cast their secret vote on Wednesday.