Three candidates are in the race to be the next Sri Lankan president after former leader Gotabaya Rajapaska fled the country and resigns last week over the island’s worst-ever economic crisis.
The parliament announced during a brief session on Tuesday that Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe will face the opposition-backed candidate Dullas Alahapperuma and Marxist party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the vote to be held on Wednesday.
The parliamentary session on Tuesday was held amid tight security although the protesters had announced they will not disrupt the meetings to elect the next president.
Alahapperuma the opposition backed candidate, is a former education minister and dissident parliamentarian from the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), controlled by the powerful but now unpopular Rajapaksa clan.
Alahapperuma’s name was seconded by G L Peiris, the SLPP chairman, indicating a rift within the ruling coalition as many SLPP legislators are believed to be supporting Wickremesinghe too.
The Acting President Wickremesinghe was proposed by the ruling party leader in the parliament, Dinesh Gunawardena, who is likely to become the prime minister if the acting president wins the presidency.
Left-wing leader Dissanayake of the National Peoples’ Power party is the third candidate. Since the party has only three members in parliament, he is unlikely to be a challenger.
Analysts are of the opinion that Wickremesinghe is ahead in the race as a majority of legislators from the ruling SLPP are backing him.
