In Sri Lanka, a New President Emerges From the Fray. Is He Up to the Task?

Sri Lanka's new, unpopular president faces a host of political and economic challenges that will determine whether the country returns to some level of stability or continues to face ongoing unrest. Ranil Wickremesinghe has been promoted from prime minister to president of Sri Lanka. Per the country’s constitution, lawmakers in Sri Lanka’s parliament held a vote to elect a new president on July 20 after increasingly violent protests forced former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country last week. Wickremesinghe -- a senior politician and six-time prime minister -- secured 134 votes in the country’s 225-member legislature, defeating the other two nominees for the nation’s top job. The presidential pick has been met with a mixed reaction in Sri Lanka due to Wickremesinghe’s controversial ties to Sri Lanka’s political establishment (including former Rajapaksa’s powerful family) and overall unpopularity with the public. He is also taking office at a time when...