Sri Lanka legislators start selecting new president

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan lawmakers met on Saturday to begin choosing a new leader to serve the rest of the term abandoned by the president who fled abroad and resigned after mass protests over the South Asian country's economic collapse.

A day earlier, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was sworn in as interim president until parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose term ends in 2024. Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana promised a swift and transparent political process that should be done within a week.

The new president could appoint a new premier, who would then have to be approved by the legislature.

Dhammika Dasanayake, the parliament's secretary general, said during a brief session on Saturday that nominations for the election of the new president would be heard on Tuesday. If there was more than one candidate, the lawmakers would vote on Wednesday, he added.

The official also read Rajapaksa's resignation letter out loud in parliament.

In the letter, the ex-leader says he was stepping down following requests by Sri Lankans and political party leaders. He notes that the economic crisis was looming even when he took office in 2019, and was aggravated by frequent lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.

Security around the parliament building in the capital Colombo was heightened on Saturday with armed masked soldiers on guard and roads near the building closed to the public.

In a televised statement on Friday, Wickremesinghe said he would initiate steps to change the country's constitution to curb presidential powers and strengthen the legislature, restore law and order, and take legal action against "insurgents."

It was unclear to whom he was referring, although he said true protesters would not have gotten involved in Wednesday night's clashes near parliament, where many soldiers were reportedly injured.

"There is a big difference between protesters and insurgents. We will take legal action against insurgents," he said.

Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on Wednesday and flew first to the Maldives and then to Singapore. Many protesters insisted that Wickremesinghe should also step aside.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's opposition leader, who is seeking the presidency, vowed to "listen to the people" and to hold Rajapaksa accountable.

In an interview with The Associated Press (AP) from his office, Sajith Premadasa said if he won the election in parliament, he would ensure that "an elective dictatorship never, ever occurs" in Sri Lanka.

"That's what we should do. That is our function: catching those who looted Sri Lanka. That should be done through proper constitutional, legal, democratic procedures," he said.

Sri Lanka has run short of money to pay for imports of basic necessities such as food, fertilizer, medicine and fuel for its 22 million people. Its rapid economic decline has been all the more shocking because, before this crisis, the economy had been expanding, with a growing, comfortable middle class.

The island nation is seeking help from the International Monetary Fund and other creditors, but its finances are so poor that even obtaining a bailout has proven difficult, Wickremesinghe said recently.

The protests underscored the dramatic fall of the Rajapaksa political clan that has ruled Sri Lanka for most of the past two decades.

Protesters accuse the Rajapaksas — which include the former president's elder brother Mahinda, who resigned as premier in May — of siphoning money from government coffers and of hastening the country's collapse by mismanaging the economy. The family has denied the corruption allegations, but Gotabaya acknowledged that some of his policies contributed to Sri Lanka's meltdown.

Source: TheManila Times