COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s lawmakers are set to vote for a new president after their former leader fled the country and quit amid protests over the country’s economic crisis.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, currently interim leader, has been nominated for the role by the ruling party and is seen as the frontrunner, BBC reported.
But protesters want him to go too after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned.
The PM faces a serious challenge from Dullas Alahapperuma, a dissident ruling party MP backed by the main opposition.
Whoever is elected by parliament will have a mandate to serve out the rest of Mr Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in November 2024.
Sri Lanka is effectively bankrupt and facing acute shortages of food, fuel and other basic supplies.
The country needs a stable government to continue stalled negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package.
(Inputs from BBC)
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