Ranil Wickremesinghe bids an emotional farewell to Lanka presidency

COLOMBO: President Ranil Wickremesinghe who lost Sri Lanka's presidential election on Sunday bid an emotional farewell to his 26 months job as the island nation's president and handed over the care of the "child" called Sri Lanka to president-elect Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

“President Anura Dissanayake, I am handing over to your care the lovable child called Sri Lanka, whom we both love very dearly," the 75-year-old outgoing president said in a statement.

Wickremesinghe, who took charge after then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa resigned as protesters stormed the presidential palace following the country's economic crisis, said he over the last two years safely carried the "child" Sri Lanka "along a long distance safely - on the dangerous rope bridge".

"Close to the very end of the bridge, people have decided to hand over the dear child called Sri Lanka to President Anura Dissanayake. I wish that you will be able to carry this child away from the bridge to the other bank, even safer than the way I carried the child," the outgoing president said.

Wickremesinghe also said he followed the right path and saved people from hunger and sorrow following the economic crisis that led to the shortage of essential commodities in the island nation.

"I hope that the new president will also follow the right path and put an end to the remaining issues that the people are facing," said Wickremesinghe who finished third in the election with just 17 per cent of the vote.

"I will be devoted to serving my motherland with or without power, with or without a post or powers, for the rest of my life," the outgoing president said, thanking his supporters and even those who did not support him.

After taking over in 2022, Wickremesinghe steered the economy with the IMF bailout of nearly USD 3 billion.

However, the tough austerity measures in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme made him unpopular despite his hard work in turning around the bankrupt economy.

Reflecting upon his role as a caretaker, Wickremesinghe said he accepted the challenge at a time when no one else dared to face it and completed the responsibility that history put upon his shoulders.

"I was able to rescue my motherland from bankruptcy within a short period of two years and increased the Foreign Reserve, which was at USD 20 Million when I came to power, to USD 5.7 Billion."

Marxist leader Dissanayake, 56, popularly known as AKD, was declared the winner of Saturday's presidential election.

The election on Saturday was the first to be held since mass protests unseated Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2022 after the country suffered an economic crisis.

His accession to the post is a remarkable turnaround for his half-century-old party Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which had long remained on the margins. He is Sri Lanka’s first-ever Marxist party leader to become head of state.

Dissanayake faces the immediate challenge of determining the future of economic reforms in the cash-strapped country.

Historically, the NPP has opposed International Monetary Fund programmes, but its recent endorsement of the current programme, although with a renegotiation of its terms, marks a significant shift.