Sri Lanka: Opposition leader ready to run for presidency
Sri Lanka’s main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa has said he intends to run for president, once Gotabaya Rajapaksa steps down.
This comes after his Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party held talks with allies to get support for the move.
Sri Lanka is facing an unprecedented economic crisis which has brought thousands to the streets since March.
The country has run out of cash and is struggling to import basic items like food, fuel and medicine.
President Rajapaksa announced that he plans to resign this week, and the Speaker of parliament has said lawmakers will choose the next president on 20 July.
He lost the presidential election in 2019, and would need the support of the governing alliance MPs to win.
He is banking on getting it due to the popular discontent against Mr Rajapaksa and his family, who have dominated Sri Lankan politics for more than two decades.
The country’s inflation rate reached a whopping 55% in June, and millions of people are struggling to make a living.
Mr Premadasa said he was ready to take part in an all-party interim government.
The SJB leader has been criticised for refusing to take the post of prime minister when it was offered to him in April. His rival Ranil Wickremesinghe was appointed – but has also indicated he would resign to make way for a unity government.
Mr Premadasa described the current situation in Sri Lanka as “confused, uncertainty and total anarchy”, saying it needs “consensus, consultation, compromise and coming togetherness”.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES