Sri Lanka:four frontrunners in race to become next president

Sri Lanka's acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, main Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa are among the four candidates who have joined the race to become the country's next President. Lawmakers met on Saturday to start the process of electing a new President to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after unprecedented protests against his government over the country's economic collapse. Besides Wickremesinghe and Premadasa, Marxist JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Dullas Alahapperuma, are the other two leaders who have so far announced their candidacy to contest the July 20 vote in Parliament to succeed Rajapaksa for the rest of his term until November 2024.
Parliament met for a brief special session on Saturday to announce the vacancy in the presidency following the resignation of Rajapaksa. During the 13-minute special session, Dhammika Dassanayake, Secretary General of Parliament, announced the vacancy for the post of president. Dasanayake said that nominations for the election of the new president will be heard on Tuesday and if there is more than one candidate, the lawmakers will vote on Wednesday. The 225-member Parliament is dominated by Rajapaksa's ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party.