Today, Wednesday, Sri Lankan lawmakers elected former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as President of Sri Lanka, the crisis-hit South Asian country.

Wickremesinghe roundly defeated his main rival, Dullus Alahapperuma, with 134 votes to 82 in a parliamentary vote, and the newly elected president is now facing the challenge of saving the country from its economic collapse and restoring order after several months of mass protests.

Last week, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country to the Maldives in a military aircraft, and Colombo announced an indefinite nationwide state of emergency, according to the Prime Minister's office. 

Protesters disappointed

Protesters felt sad and disappointed upon the parliament's election of Wickremesinghe as president, and some protests' representatives called on him to step down from the post.

Representatives stated that electing Wickremesinghe was “against the wishes of the people," according to Sri Lanka’s NewsWire agency.

“Ranil Wickremesinghe has been brought in by the Rajapaksa regime. Therefore, our peaceful protests will go on against Ranil Wickremesinghe and the corrupt system,” one representative said.

Analysts believe Ranil Wickremesinghe, a six-time former prime minister who became acting president after his predecessor resigned, is the frontrunner, but protesters see him as a Rajapaksa ally.