Unpopular Sri Lankan PM elected president; risks new turmoil

By KRISHAN FRANCIS
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lankan lawmakers have elected the country’s unpopular prime minister as their new president. Wednesday’s choice risks reigniting turmoil in the South Asian nation reeling from economic collapse. The crisis has already forced one Sri Lankan leader out, and a few hundred protesters quickly gathered after the vote to express their outrage that Ranil Wickremesinghe would stay in power. Sri Lankans have taken to the street for months to demand their top leaders step down as the country spiraled into economic chaos. After demonstrators stormed the presidential palace and several other government buildings last week, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled and then resigned.