Colombo - Sri Lanka's Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe won the Presidential election on Wednesday amid the ongoing economic turmoil in the island nation.
Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected as the new President following a vote in Sri Lankan Parliament. He received 134 votes.
SLPP parliamentarian Dullas Alahaperuma received 82 votes while National People's Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake received three votes.
Wickremesinghe, who has served as the Prime Minister of the island nation six times, was among the top for the Presidential election in which 225 members of the House voted through a secret ballot.
Earlier, Wickremesinghe was appointed as the new president of Sri Lanka after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled abroad after his palace was stormed by angry protesters amid the unprecedented economic crisis.
The Daily Mirror reported that Sri Lankan Speaker said MPs were not allowed to bring mobile phones into the House, during the election after some party leaders had informed their MPs to take pics of their ballot papers.
Earlier, Wickremesinghe was regarded as one of the top candidates. However, the tables turned after Sri Lanka's main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa yesterday withdrew his candidature from the presidential race and said he was supporting rival candidate Dullas Alahapperuma for the top post.
Premadasa took to Twitter to say that his party the Samagi Jana Balawegaya and its alliance and opposition partners will support Alahapperuma, an MP of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), who is in the fray for the upcoming presidential elections.
Premadasa said that he is heading with this decision as he seeks the “greater good” for Sri Lankans.
“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. Samagi Jana Balawegaya and our alliance and our opposition partners will work hard towards making Dullas Alahaperuma victorious,” he tweeted.
Earlier, Alahapperuma was campaigning hard for the presidential race along with his prime ministerial candidate Sajith Premadasa to persuade the Tamil MPs to vote for Dullas, the Daily Mirror reported.
Related Video:
ANI