Analysts here believe that 73-year-old Wickremesinghe is leading.

Colombo:

Sri Lanka Crisis:

 Presidential election is to be held today amid the ongoing crisis in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's presidential election is likely to be a triangular contest on Wednesday.

Wickremesinghe, Alhapperuma and Left-wing Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Disanayake were on Tuesday proposed by lawmakers as the three candidates for the presidential election.

Sri Lanka's parliament will directly elect the president in a triangular contest for the first time in 44 years.

In which last-minute political maneuvering indicates the lead of Dullas Alhapperuma over caretaker President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

He is supported by opposition parties as well as most of the MPs of his parent party.

The election of a new president will be held after Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled the country, resigned from the presidency due to protests erupting over his failure to deal with the worst economic crisis the country has ever faced.

SLPP president G L Peiris said on Tuesday that most members of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party favored electing detached faction leader Alhapperuma for the presidency and prominent opposition leader Sajith Premadasa as prime minister. Huh.

However, analysts here believe that 73-year-old Wickremesinghe is leading.

Without the support of the ruling SLPP, Wickremesinghe would not have success as he only has his seat in Parliament.

In a politically significant move, leader of major opposition SJB Premadasa on Tuesday extended his support to Alhapperuma.

Alhapperuma thanked Premadasa for supporting him and withdrawing from the presidential election.

Later, Alhapperuma and Premadasa attended a joint press conference.

According to the media, in another development in favor of Alhapperuma, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) has decided to vote for him in the election.

TPA leader MP Mano Ganesan said the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) has also unanimously decided to support Alhapperuma in the presidential election.

Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) and All Ceylon Makkal Congress (ACMC) have also decided to vote for Alhapperuma.

Wickremesinghe, on the other hand, did not find support from the popular 'Aragalaya' anti-government movement.

Aragalaya leader Harinda Fonseca said, "We reject Ranil Wickremesinghe as a legitimate candidate for the presidency."

However, the most decisive factor that could lead to Wickremesinghe is the personal insecurity of SLPP MPs.

More than 70 of them faced arson and attacks and one was killed.

Columnist Kusal Perera said, 'The most deciding factor will be personal safety.

Even those whose homes were not damaged fear that they may be in danger.

They need someone who can take firm decisions.

He said Wickremesinghe has shown enough intention to be able to bring the security situation under control already.

A key aide of Wickremesinghe, Vajira Abeywardene, claimed the caretaker president would emerge the winner with 125 votes.


Meanwhile, SLPP President Peiris said his party's majority is in favor of appointing Alhapperuma as president.



(Except for the headline, this news has not been edited by the NDTV team, it has been published directly from the Syndicate feed.)