Sri Lanka president gets long-sought win, faces challenges

By KRISHAN FRANCIS and ELAINE KURTENBACH
Associated Press

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s new president has always aspired to the pinnacle of power, enduring setback after setback but managing to recover from seemingly impossible defeats. Ranil Wickremesinghe has moved quickly to consolidate his position after lawmakers elected him this week to finish the term of his ousted predecessor, Gotabaya Rajapaksa. On Friday, he appointed a classmate and ally of Rajapaksa to be his prime minister and partner in rescuing the country from its predicament. The question is whether they can muster the political heft and enough support from a public fed up with shortages of food, fuel and medicine to get the job done.