More turmoil anticipated in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — Sri Lankan lawmakers on Wednesday elected the unpopular prime minister as their new president, a choice that risked reigniting turmoil in the South Asian nation reeling from economic collapse and months of round-the-clock protests.

The crisis has already forced out one leader, and a few hundred protesters quickly gathered after the vote to express their outrage that Ranil Wickremesinghe — a sixtime prime minister whom they see as part of the problematic political establishment — would stay in power.

While the choice invited more protests, lawmakers apparently considered Wickremesinghe a safe pair of hands, a politician with deep experience who could lead Sri Lanka out of the crisis. He has spent 45 years in Parliament and led recent talks seeking a bailout for the bankrupt island nation.

Sri Lankans have taken to the street for months to demand their top leaders step down as the country spiraled into economic chaos that left its 22 million people struggling with shortages of essentials, including medicine, fuel and food. After demonstrators stormed the presidential palace and several other government buildings last week, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled and then resigned.

Much of the ire is focused on Rajapaksa and his family’s political dynasty, which ruled for most of the past two decades. Many blame Wickremesinghe for protecting Rajapaksa. During demonstrations last week, crowds set his personal residence on fire and occupied his office.

Wednesday's vote means Wickremesinghe -- who was also

Rajapaksa's finance minister and became acting president after the leader fled — will finish the presidential term ending in 2024. He can now also appoint a new prime minister.

"I need not tell you what state our country is in," Wickremesinghe, 73, told fellow lawmakers after his victory was announced. "People are not expecting the old politics from us. They expect us to work together."

He pleaded for the country to move on: "Now that the election is over, we have to end this division."

But protesters flocked to the presidential residence instead, chanting, "Ranil, go home."

"We are very sad, very disappointed with the 225 parliament members who we elected to speak for us, which they have not done," said Visaka Jayawware, a performance artist in the crowd.