The Struggle For Democracy In Sri Lanka

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Colombo — Ranil Wickremesinghe, a seasoned politician and six-time prime minister, has been elected by the Sri Lankan parliament to serve as the eighth president of the island country in turmoil.

Following Mahinda Rajapaksa's resignation in May of this year due to the island nation's greatest economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948, Wickremesinghe was named prime minister. After his predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa left the country and submitted his resignation through email last week, he was appointed interim president. Gotabaya was forced to flee after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital, and occupied his official house as well as other significant government buildings. 

The Rajapaksa family, who ruled the island nation's politics for more than two decades, is blamed by the demonstrators for the economic catastrophe that resulted in people waiting in line for gasoline, medications, and other necessities for days at a time.

However, that was not the end of political struggle in the country. Until Wickremesinghe is gone, protesters said they would continue their "aragalaya," the Sinhala term for "struggle."

“We are currently discussing our strategy and regrouping. We will definitely continue our struggle and our occupation at GotaGoGama until Ranil Wickremesinghe resigns. This is definitely not what we wanted,” said the protest leader Melani Gunathilake. “Sri Lanka deserves a leader who actually cares for its people, not somebody who thinks about his political future.”

Being an executive president, Wickremesinghe is expected to name his prime minister and the cabinet soon. And this "soon" applies not only to Sri Lanka, but also to the UK and Italy where their prime ministers had to resign as well, which will probably lead to the new turn in many governments and their relations. 

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