Sri Lanka’s Parliament held a special session on Saturday to start the process of electing a new President on July 20 following the resignation of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with four contenders, including acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe joining the race to head the next Government that has the arduous task to revive the country’s bankrupt economy.
During a 13-minute special session, Dhammika Dassanayake, Secretary General of Parliament, announced the vacancy for the post of President after the resignation Rajapaksa, who fled the country after a popular uprising against him.
Dassanayake read out the resignation letter from Rajapaksa to the Speaker in which Rajapaksa defended his actions to address the economic crisis and the political turmoil. He blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown for Sri Lanka’s economic woes. Rajapaksa said, “I served my motherland to the best of my ability and I will continue to do so in the future.”
Dassanayake informed the House that nominations for the Presidency should be submitted to him on July 19 and if more than one candidate submits nominations, a vote would be taken in Parliament on July 20 to elect the new President.
The 225-member House is dominated by Rajapaksa’s ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party. Besides Wickremesinghe and main Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader AK Dissanayake and Dullas Alahapperuma, a breakaway SLPP candidate, are the other two leaders to have announced their candidacy to contest the vote in Parliament.