There are three presidential candidates, but the challenge will be between former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe and five-time MP Dullas Alahapperuma, supported by the opposition. The Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka asks citizens to exercise their right to vote. They arrested Indian students who were protesting in solidarity with the Sri Lankan people.
Colombo () – The leader of the opposition, Sajith Premadasa, announced today that he will abandon the presidential race. Only three candidates are now running to replace former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country following anti-government protests in recent months. Parliament will meet tomorrow to elect a new head of government. The vote will focus on two main candidates: former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, 73, and MP Dullas Alahapperuma, 63.
The former prime minister and current interim president has the support of a broad faction of the ruling party, the Sri Lankan Podujana Peramuna, but is not liked by the population. Yesterday, Wickremasinghe, six times prime minister, ad the imminent closing of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund to reactivate the country’s economy. Nevertheless, protesters took to the streets again today to protest against his candidacy and demand his resignation for being too close to the Rajapaksa family.
The other favorite is the former journalist and five-time deputy Dullas Alahapperuma, who has the support of the opposition and part of the majority. Sajith Premadasa has declared that his party, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, will support Alahapperuma, a politician who appears more trustworthy in the eyes of much of the population.
The third candidate is Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, leader of the left-wing Janatha Vimukti Peramuna party, which with only three seats in Parliament has no real chance of winning.
The Episcopal Conference of Sri Lanka expresses its “serious concern at the unfortunate and unprecedented political upheaval currently characterizing the country”. The island’s bishops called for the creation of an “interim government that provides political and economic stability.” By requesting that the “rejected leaders” by the population no longer hold any government post, the bishops urge the country’s politicians to “set a timetable for the general elections, which allows the population to freely express their right to vote and elect their representatives.
The president elected tomorrow by Parliament will remain in office until 2024, completing Rajapaksa’s term; the new head of government will have the complicated task of getting the country out of the economic crisis.
Sri Lanka is in a situation of financial default, since it cannot meet the payments of a debt that amounts to more than 50,000 million dollars. The country has not been able to import fuel for months and inflation is over 54%, which prevents citizens from buying basic necessities, especially food and medicine. The population’s protests against the high cost of living culminated on July 9 with the occupation of the presidential palace and the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
In the past year, Sri Lanka has turned to China and India for financial help. The Indian ambassador in Colombo, Gopal Baglay, told the newspaper Indian Express that Delhi is willing to provide more aid than the 3,800 million dollars already granted this year: “The idea is to respond to Sri Lanka’s requests so that the country can face the currency crisis,” said the diplomat.
However, on July 14, the Delhi police arrested a group of university students who were protesting in solidarity with the Sri Lankan people. Two days later, activists demonstrated outside the Indian embassy in Colombo demanding his immediate release. “The Indian people stand with the Sri Lankan people with true solidarity, while the Indian government stands by the Sri Lankan government with hidden agendas,” he told Sithara Kularatna, a university student who participated in the protest
“We condemn this illegal detention,” added Swasthika Arulingam, a lawyer and activist. “It is true that the Indian state has offered us support during the crisis and we are glad about it, but we are also aware that the projects of private companies are not in accordance with the interests of Sri Lanka.”
Melani Manel Perera collaborated in writing this article.
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