Sri Lanka Presidential polls LIVE: Six-time Prime Minister Wickremesinghe wins

Ranil Wickremesinghe will be sworn in as Sri Lanka president tomorrow.

Xinhua quoted officials from the president's office to say that Wickremesinghe will appoint prime minister during the course of the day

Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe thanked country's armed forces and the police. Sri Lankan parliament had strengthened security in view of election of the president.

Sri Lankan protesters were not very happy at election of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the crisis-hit country's president

"I think its a sad day," said protester Buwanaka Perera 

"Because this is someone who did not win an election. He is someone who was rejected by the people's mandate," he added.

"We won't back down, we won't settle for anything less," said activist Kasumi Ranasinghe Arachchige.

They were quoted by Reuters

Ranil Wickramasinghe elected as the 8th executive president of Sri Lanka with 134 votes. Dullas Alahaperuma got 82 votes, while Anurakumara Dossanayake got 3 votes.

A total of 223 votes were registered, two abstained, whereas four were declared invalid.

Vote to elect the new President in Parliament concludes

At the start of the sessions, Secretary-General of Parliament Dhammika Dasanayake instructed lawmakers on the voting process and warned them that taking photos of their ballot or publicising their vote is a breach of the constitution.

Sri Lanka's parliament on Wednesday began the election for a new president to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country and resigned last week.

The parliament's secretary-general, Dhammika Dasanayake, rang the quorum bell to signal the start of the secret ballot vote in which 225 legislators will choose between three candidates for head of state of the crisis-wracked country.

At an all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government over the Sri Lankan crisis, the members were informed that India needs to learn its lessons on fiscal prudence and good governance, and make sure that the country doesn’t slide into a similar path.

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Ahead of the presidential elections in Sri Lanka, former cricketing legend Sanath Jayasuriya on Tuesday (July 19) urged the members of parliament to "choose wisely". The crisis-hit country will vote on Wednesday for a president to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who left the country amid an economic crisis. 

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The new president will serve the remaining tenure of Rajapaksa till November 2024.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up in and around Parliament complex on Tuesday after the Speaker lodged a complaint with the Inspector General of Police calling for a detailed investigation to be conducted into certain inflammatory posts published on social media threatening Members of Parliament.

Never in the history of the presidency since 1978, parliament had voted to elect a president.

Presidential elections in 1982, 1988, 1994, 1999, 2005, 2010, 2015 and 2019 had elected them by popular vote.

The only previous occasion when the presidency became vacant mid-term was in 1993 when president Ranasinghe Premadasa was assassinated. DB Wijetunga was unanimously endorsed by Parliament to run the balance of Premadasa's term.

Majority of members of Sri Lanka’s ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party are in favour of nominating Dullas Alahapperuma, a leader of its breakaway faction, for the post of the President and principal Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa as the Prime Minister, Chairman of the SLPP, G.L. Peiris said on July 19, ahead of the Presidential election, on July 20, reports PTI.

SLPP Chairman Peiris said the majority of his party was in favour of appointing Mr. Alahapperuma as the President, underlining that the people’s voice be highlighted in Parliament, according to news portal News First.lk.

Sri Lanka's presidential elections will see a three-way fight between acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, former journalist Dallas Alahapperuma, and Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, from the leftist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna party.