Highlight
- Sri Lanka’s parliament to elect its next president on July 20
- Presidential elections were held in the country in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019.
- This will be the first time since 1978 that Parliament will vote to elect a President.
Sri Lanka Crisis: Sri Lanka is all set to elect its next president after a secret ballot by lawmakers on July 20 Gotabaya Rajapaksa has submitted his resignation. This will be the first time in the history of the presidency since 1978 that Parliament will vote to elect a president. Presidential elections were held in the country in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019.
Before, the only time when The presidency of Sri Lanka fell vacant in 1993 After the assassination of the then President Ranasinghe Premadasa. DB Vijetunga was unanimously endorsed by the Parliament to drive the balance of Premadasa’s tenure. He still has wide acceptance as a man with the ability to steer the island through turbulence.
Here is the list of possible candidates
As the date for the presidential election draws closer, let’s take a closer look at the candidates who are most likely to run for the position.
Ranil Wickremesinghe
Ranil Wickremesinghe will be the front runner in the presidential race next week. He became prime minister in May After assuming command of the country amid the worst economic crisis.
Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP) had to face defeat in the 2020 parliamentary elections. During his first election, he failed to win a seat in 1977. Some may hate him for his pro-Western policies and methods But he still enjoys acceptance as a thinker and strategist whose vision is futuristic.
without his parliamentary number, Wickremesinghe will be entirely dependent on the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) member vote. His support is not foreseen as the SLPP is ideologically against him.
sajith premadasa
55-year-old Sajith Premadasa is The next main contenders for the presidency. His newly formed SJB ousted Wickremesinghe’s grand old party from all its strongholds to emerge as the main opposition in 2020.
Ironically, Premadasa’s failure to fill the power vacuum in mid-May paved the way for Wickremesinghe to become prime minister out of nowhere.
he’s the only one standing out The opportunity is there because most members of the SLPP are unlikely to support him. Unlike Wickremesinghe though he starts the race with a minimum of 50 votes.
dulce low oxygen waste
A former cabinet minister and former columnist of the newspaper is being seen as a left-leaning political ideologue. He has served in ministerial positions since 2005 and enjoys a reputation for clean public life. His task too would be difficult given his status as a separate member.
Sarath Fonseca
A shocking name in the list is that of Field Marshal Sarath Fonseca. 71 years old, Army commander wins military conflict with LTTE who fought the army to establish a separate Tamil homeland in the north and eastern regions. Fonseca is supported by the Sinhalese Buddhist majority.
He stands out as the only politician who was not opposed by a wider group of protesters Which caused the downfall of Rajapaksa. However he will only enter the race when their leader Premadasa is out of the competition.
Sri Lanka is facing severe economic crisis
Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, is in the grip of an unprecedented economic turmoil, the worst in seven decades, crippled by an acute shortage of foreign exchange that has left it unable to pay for essential imports of fuel and other essential commodities. gave up fighting. ,
The country, with an acute foreign exchange crisis that resulted in foreign debt defaults, announced in April that it would suspend foreign debt repayments of about USD 7 billion for the year, out of about USD 25 billion by 2026. Used to be. Sri Lanka’s total external debt is USD 51 billion.
(with inputs from PTI)
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