ALJAZEERA News:-
Anti-government protesters have returned to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital and say they will continue their weeks-long uprising after parliament voted in acting leader Ranil Wickremesinghe as the country’s new president.
Hundreds of protesters gathered at the GotaGoGama site in Colombo on Wednesday, where only last week they had celebrated Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation as president.
Addressing the crowds, protest leaders refused to accept six-time Prime Minister Wickremesinghe, 73, as the new head of state, holding him partly responsible for the country’s unprecedented economic and political crisis.
“As you know, the parliament elected a new president today, but that president is not new to us, it is not the people’s mandate,” Wasantha Mudalige, the leader of Inter University Student Federation, told the crowds.
“We managed to kick out Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who secured 6.9 million votes, but Ranil Wickremesinghe has now secured that seat from the back seat,” he added. “Ranil isn’t our president … the people’s mandate is on the streets.”
