RAnil Wickremesinghe is a familiar sight to anyone who has had even a passing interest in Sri Lankan politics over the past few decades. First elected to Parliament in 1977, he has held various ministerial posts over the years, including six times as Prime Minister. His last stint was in the service of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, whose term as president came to an ignominious end on July 14 when he submitted his resignation by email from Singapore, after fleeing the country in the middle of the night the day before.
Fearing prosecution for alleged corruption and crimes committed during Sri Lanka’s civil war, the disgraced ex-president is expected to stay abroad for the foreseeable future. But Mr Wickremesinghe (pictured) will remain a familiar face around Colombo, the capital. After taking over from his caretaker boss the previous week, he was formally elected president by a clear majority of 134 of 225 MPs on July 20. He is expected to serve the remainder of Mr. Rajapaksa’s term, which ends in 2024.
His election gives hope that Sri Lanka, which has been plagued by economic and political turmoil for months, will finally regain the political stability needed to resolve its economic problems. But Mr. Wickremesinghe’s chances of success are complicated by his willingness to work with the Rajapaksas. The protesters who ousted Mr Rajapaksa from office had also demanded Mr Wickremesinghe’s resignation as prime minister. Their idea of his resignation hardly implied a promotion to the highest office in the country. This bodes ill for his chances of uniting Sri Lankans behind him in times of crisis.
There is room for optimism. Mr Rajapaksa, for all his reluctance to relinquish the powers he enjoyed, eventually left in the face of public pressure rather than call in the military to quell protests and rule by decree. Mr Wickremesinghe has imposed a curfew, declared a state of emergency and called the largely peaceful protesters “fascists”, suggesting a degree of personal anger he will need to harness over the coming months. But he also submitted to the constitutional process rather than seeking to prolong his interim in power. Security forces acted with restraint in relation to past crises. Lawlessness and large-scale violence were avoided.
The new president is expected to stick to a program of economic reforms that he began to implement as prime minister. The plan proposes increases in income and corporate taxes, the privatization of state-owned enterprises, a hiring freeze in the public sector and a strengthening of the social safety net to cushion the blow of other policies. It was written by a diverse group of activists and policy buffs. His orientation enjoys wide support even among members of the opposition. Put the country’s finances in a sufficient state to obtain a bailout from the IMF is widely seen as a priority.
Politically, Mr. Wickremesinghe tried to appear conciliatory. In a speech to parliament shortly after his election, he acknowledged that Sri Lanka was in deep trouble and that the country’s young people were calling for “systemic change”. He then announced talks with all parties represented in parliament the following day. Prior to his election, he had started working on reducing some of the powers of Sri Lanka’s powerful executive presidency, although he did not commit to abolishing it, as protesters demanded.
This may not be enough to convince the movement that ousted Mr. Rajapaksa and whose objective is a radical change in the country’s politics. Given that Mr Wickremesinghe was Prime Minister, few expect major cabinet changes. He remained silent on the prospect of early legislative elections, another of the protesters’ demands. They see the ascendancy of Mr. Wickremesinghe as a victory for the discredited political class which they blame for the country’s difficulties. They say they will continue to occupy the presidential secretariat, which they took possession of on July 9. Even a powerful executive presidency is ultimately not immune to the wrath of the people it serves.■
