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Always a Prime Minister, now a President

21 Jul 2022

  • Ranil wins historic Parliamentary Presidential vote by landslide
  • Only 82 votes for SJB-backed Dullas, three for AKD
  • To take oaths as 8th President in Parliament today
Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected the 8th President of Sri Lanka in a landslide victory led by the votes of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) MPs yesterday (20), despite expectations of a closer contest due to several parties announcing their support for his main opponent, SLPP MP Dullas Alahapperuma, and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa pulling out of the contest at the eleventh hour to support Alahapperuma. With two MPs – Selvaraja Gajendran and G.G. Ponnambalam – abstaining from voting, a total of 223 MPs cast their votes yesterday in the first Presidential election to be voted on by Parliament in Sri Lanka. In the secret ballot, 219 of the votes were deemed valid, with Wickremesinghe obtaining 134 votes, Alahapperuma obtaining 82 votes, and National People’s Power (NPP) Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake receiving three votes.  Two MPs who were ill and hospitalised arrived in Parliament to perform their duties in voting for the next President of Sri Lanka. The two MPs were MP Samanpriya Herath, who was brought down from his seat with a saline bottle being carried along by Parliament workers, and MP D. Weerasinghe, who was brought down from his seat with assistance. A special gazette was published yesterday by Parliament Secretary General Dhammika Dasanayake officially declaring the election of Wickremesinghe to the office of President, pursuant to Section 17 of the Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act, No. 2 of 1981. President-elect Wickremesinghe is slated to take oaths at the Parliament complex this morning (21), as was requested by him in Parliament following his victory yesterday. Wickremesinghe became acting President last week after former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on a military plane to the Maldives and subsequently boarded a commercial flight to Singapore. Wickremesinghe, a six-time former Prime Minister who became acting President after his predecessor resigned, had the backing of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the largest bloc in the 225-member Parliament. Alahapperuma, a former journalist and senior Parliamentarian, was supported by the opposition including the main opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), Tamil National Alliance (TNA), Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), and several independent MPs. Several other dissidents of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) had also announced their support for Alahapperuma, including SLPP Chairman Prof. G.L. Peiris. However, it appears that many members of these parties had not voted in accordance with the party’s stance, and had instead voted for Wickremesinghe in the secret ballot. Wickremesinghe embarked on active politics in the mid-1970s representing the United National Party (UNP) and entered Parliament in 1977. He has been the Leader of the UNP since 1994. The 73-year-old has held the office of Prime Minister six times, although he never completed a term. His latest and shortest term in office as Prime Minister was when former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him to the position on 13 July this year, after his brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to step down amidst growing public agitation. After the former President resigned from his position effective from 14 July, the parliamentary session was convened on 16 July, during which the Secretary General of Parliament announced that the office of the President had become vacant. The race was initially a four-way contest, before Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa withdrew his candidacy to support Alahapperuma. The vote to appoint a succeeding President commenced early yesterday after the parliamentary session began at 10.00 a.m. The Secretary General of Parliament acted as the Returning Officer in this secret ballot. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena cast the first vote, followed by Acting President Wickremesinghe. Parliament has decided to meet again on 27 July.


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