The election of the new head of state is seen as the first step in restarting talks with the International Monetary Fund over a much-needed bailout program.
(Photo: dpa)
Bangkok His government is out of money, chaos reigns in his country and he is hated by large sections of the population: in his attempt to find a way out of Sri Lanka’s worst economic and political crisis to date, the new President Ranil Wickremesinghe has had a bad one initial position.
The 73-year-old professional politician was elected on Wednesday in parliament in Colombo to succeed the previous head of state Gotabaya Rajapaksa. After mass protests against his government’s mismanagement last week, he fled abroad and from there submitted his resignation by e-mail.
The emergency situation in the island state in the Indian Ocean with 22 million inhabitants has recently escalated: The over-indebted country, which has been insolvent since May, no longer has any foreign exchange – and can therefore no longer afford to import fuel, medicines and food. Food inflation was 80 percent in June. According to the UN, almost a third of the population is no longer fed.
The election of a new head of state is seen as the first step in restarting talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on an urgently needed aid program. But with the decision for Wickremesinghe, the country is also threatened with a continuation of the unrest.
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Wickremesinghe is extremely unpopular with the demonstrators who stormed the presidential palace a week and a half ago and overthrew the previous government. Activists also broke into his home earlier this month and set it on fire. Government opponents accuse him of having too close ties to the Rajapaksa clan, which has dominated Sri Lanka’s politics for decades and is held responsible for the country’s economic misery.
For the sixth time in the office of head of government
Wickremesinghe, who comes from a family of politicians and entrepreneurs, was appointed prime minister by Rajapaksa in May – his sixth time in the post. He now wants to use his experience in administration and good contacts in India and China as President. “Our country faces enormous challenges,” he said in parliament. “Now everyone has to come together.”
Wickremesinghe elected as the new President of Sri Lanka
However, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to win the angry opponents of the government over to his side: just a few days ago, the politician, who had previously been appointed interim president, spoke of a “fascist danger to our democracy” with regard to the demonstrators and hired him crackdown in prospect.
Wickremesinghe denies any responsibility for Sri Lanka’s current crisis: the economy had already collapsed before he entered the current government, he said. In fact, under the leadership of the Rajapaksa family, the country had accumulated a mountain of debt of more than $50 billion over the years. Controversial tax cuts, the loss of tourism income during the corona crisis and most recently the increase in energy costs after the start of the Ukraine war ultimately led to the state bankruptcy.
However, the demonstrators in Colombo apparently do not believe that a new start is possible under Wickremesinghe. In front of the presidential house, after his election, they chanted: “Go home, Ranil.”
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