he will stay in the post until 2024. so what do we know about ranil wickremesinghe? he s a lawyer who has served as sri lanka s prime minister a record six times. this is the moment he was announced as the new president. he has a reputation as a shrewd operator earning him the nickname the fox this may count in his favour as he seeks a way out of the country s devastating economic crisis. but he may not be able to quell mass protests as he s deeply unpopular with the public. earlier this month demonstrators set fire to his house demanding he resign as prime minister a step he said he was willing to take. anbarasan ethirajan sent this update from the sri lankan capital colombo. a remarkable victory for mr ranil wickremesinghe. he has secured about 134 votes with a clear majority of 52. that was more than people here had expected and as soon as mr wickremesinghe s election was announced, a group
america will use all its power to prevent iran from ever getting nuclear weapons. it s six in the morning in singapore, and three thirty am in the sri lankan capital colombo, where celebrations have been taking place, after gotabaya rajapaksa became the country s first sitting president to quit. he did so after months of angry protests over the rapidly rising cost of living, and shortages of food and fuel. from colombo, rajini vaidyanathan reports. a moment to savour after months of struggle. now there s joy.
rejected the notification by president appointing mr ranil wickremesinghe, who was the prime minister, as the acting president. actually, people in sri lanka were waiting for this resignation letter from mr rajapaksa, as promised earlier. but the speaker s office, the speaker of parliament s office, this morning told us that they have not received that letter. that is surprised many people because they were hoping that mr rajapaksa would leave at least the political crisis at one step towards some sort of solution. but that has not happened yet. and the protest leaders say they are going to have another meeting to reassess the situation and then they will announce the strategy later in the day. a little earlier, i spoke to saroj pateerana who is a journalist based in the sri lankan capital colombo and he told me about the curfews imposed by authoroties there. the curfew has been reimposed
nuclear weapons. it s seven in the morning in singapore, and four thirty am in the sri lankan capital colombo where celebrations have been taking place after gotabaya rajapaksa became the country s first sitting president to quit. he did so after months of angry protests over the rapidly rising cost of living, and shortages of food and fuel. from colombo, rajini vaidyanathan reports. a moment to savour after months of struggle. now there s joy. these demonstrators had one key
government six months to a maximum of one year to settle all this and ease the problem is possible. after that, elections should happen and people can select who they want to rule the country next. but nobody knows who that should be. as they celebrate the end of one chapter in this protest movement, another difficult one is about to begin. rajini vaidyanathan, bbc news, colombo. earlier i spoke to asanga abeyagoonasekera, who is a sri lankan political analyst, and currently a senior fellow at the millennium project think tank in washington dc. i asked him whether president rajapaksa s resignation will help to stop the protests. this will be a key factor to de escalate the political tension. for three months the protesters were asking for the right resignation it s a huge victory for the protesters,