In a dramatic turn of events, this morning Sri Lanka’s parliamentarians elected a new head of state: the man nicknamed the “wily fox”, Ranil Wickremesinghe. This follows months of chaos in the Sri Lankan capital. Amidst widespread outrage over a devastating financial crisis, former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa secretly fled the island last week and is now reported to be hiding out in Singapore. However, despite change at the top, trepidation remains.
Wickremesinghe remains deeply unpopular, having failed to be elected in his own constituency less than two years ago. He reconciled with his former rival Rajapaksa months ago to become prime minister again, and to many Wickremesinghe’s ascent proves exactly why politics here remains broken. This may be a case of replacing one ultra-nationalist figurehead with another.
