Wednesday’s election by Sri Lanka’s parliament of the island nation’s new President places Ranil Wickremesinghe at the helm of the beleaguered country that is in grave crisis, the like of which it has not suffered since its independence. He has replaced Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was pushed out of office last week by protesters who blamed him for the country’s economic collapse. The nub of the matter must be that the new Head of State is less than agreeable to the populace. “Ranil is a thief and he will not be acceptable,” said a protester. Many protestors have pledged that the upsurge will continue. Clearly, they see the new President as a proxy for the one displaced. Sri Lanka, an island nation of 22 million and once a vibrant democracy despite its ethnic tensions has over the past few months been decimated. The country faces bankruptcy, primarily because of the government’s mismanagement that has been compounded by the loss of vital tourism revenue during the pandemic and ballooning global prices.
Store shelves have been emptied of essential food and medicines. The situation became dire in recent months and Sri Lankans had been calling for Rajapaksa, whose family had dominated politics for nearly two decades to resign. On July 9, protesters took over the presidential mansion. Considered an ally of the Rajapaksa political dynasty, Wickeremesinghe has little or no support from a mass protest movement that has been shrilling for change. Thus it was that on his first day as acting President, he lost no time in declaring a state of emergency, couched with the warning that “fascist elements” had sneaked into the largely peaceful movement. The slogan “Gotabaya go” was quickly amended to read, “Ranil go”. He was even burned in effigy, a pointer to the groundswell of disaffection. Wickremesinghe was considered as the front-runner in the election till late on Tuesday, when the ruling party of the outgoing Gotabaya, which controls two-thirds of parliament split into two camps.
A breakaway faction supported his chief opponent, Dullas Alahaperuma, who till recently served as information minister in the Rajapaksa government. Those present in the 225- member Parliament voted in a secret ballot to elect Wickeremesinghe, who will complete Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024. In Parliament, theoretically the embodiment of the people’s will, the Rajapaksa family made its first public appearance on Wednesday since the President fled to Singapore and thence to Maldives. Among those present was Mahinda Rajapaksa, the older brother and family patriarch who was ousted as Prime Minister in May. As President, Wickremsinghe will have to deal with daunting economic challenges and his reforms are expected to envisage tax increases to stabilize a devastated economy, the country’s central bank governor told the Financial Times on the day of a swearing-in bereft of the customary grandstanding. Sri Lanka cries out for effective governance more than anything else.