Three-way fight will decide who will be Sri Lanka's next president

The stage is set for a three way fight to be the next president of Sri Lanka. The country is facing an unprecedented economic crisis that has seen acute shortage of food, fuel, medicines and more. The country does have an acting President in Ranil Wickremesinghe but parliament needs to select a president who will serve remainder of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term.

The winner will take charge of a bankrupt country that is in talks with the IMF for a bailout as its 22 million people endure severe shortages of food, fuel and medicines.

Sri Lankan parliament on Tuesday (July 19), announced that acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe will face former education minister Dullas Alahapperuma and leftist leader Anura Dissanayake in a secret ballot. Alahapperuma enjoys support from the opposition parties in Sri Lanka. Voting to elect the president is due to take place on July 20.

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The three were formally nominated by legislators in a session that lasted under 10 minutes at the tightly guarded parliament building.

It was expected that Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa would throw in hat in the fray but he declared on Tuesday morning that he was withdrawing his name from the race.

"For the greater good of my country that I love and the people I cherish, I hereby withdraw my candidacy for the position of President," Premadasa said on Twitter.

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AFP cited political sources to say that Premadasa and Alahapperuma had struck a deal overnight for one to be president and the other prime minister

But Wickremesinghe, 73, a veteran political operator and six times prime minister, has the formal backing of the leadership of the SLPP, which remains the largest party in the 225-member parliament.

(With inputs from agencies)

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