Sri Lanka’s 225-seat parliament votes on Wednesday to choose the new president, who will lead efforts to address the country’s economic and political collapse
Sri Lanka’s main opposition leader withdrew from the presidential race on Tuesday and promised support to a low-profile politician from the ruling party who will take on acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe in a tight contest.
Wickremesinghe is deeply unpopular among protesters who stormed his office and official residence earlier this month when he was prime minister, along with those of ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Nevertheless, Wickremesinghe is backed by a faction of the ruling party to be president. Outside Colombo’s main railway station, a group of several hundred protesters shouted slogans against the Rajapaksa family and Wickremesinghe, who they see as the family’s candidate.
“For the greater good of my country that I love and the people I cherish, I hereby withdraw my candidacy for the position of president,” Premadasa said on Twitter. The third presidential contestant is Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, the leader of the leftist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna party, but he is not believed to have a realistic chance since his party and allies have only three seats in parliament.Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and tax cuts by the Rajapaksa government, tea-growing Sri Lanka is in the midst of its worst economic crisis since it won independence from Britain in 1948.
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