Presidential vote : Parliament live updates

July 20, 2022 at 10:23 AM

12. 50 pm : President Wickremesinghe also requests the Speaker to allow him to take oaths outside the Parliament chamber and within the Parliamentary complex.

12. 47 pm : President Ranil Wickremesinghe says he is willing to commence discussions with all parties from tomorrow.

12. 46 pm : Addressing Parliament, newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe calls on all parties to work together to resolve the issues in the country.

Dullas Alahapperuma secures 82 votes and Anura Kumara Dissanayake obtains 3 votes.

A total of 223 MPs voted, while 2 abstained.  A total of 219 votes identified as valid votes and 4 as invalid.

Ranil Wickremesinghe secures 134 and wins the Presidential vote with a majority.

12. 43 pm : Ranil Wickremesinghe elected 8th Executive President of Sri Lanka.

12. 36 pm : The counting of valid votes concludes.

12. 14 pm : The Speaker repeats the request for other Members of Parliament to remain seated until the conclusion of the counting of votes.

12. 10 pm : The counting of valid votes commences.

The Secretary-General of Parliament announces four invalid votes.

12.09 pm : The separating of valid and invalid votes concludes. Empty ballot box displayed to Members of Parliament.

11. 52 am : The vote counting process commences with the Secretary-General of Parliament checking for valid and invalid votes.

11. 50 am : The counting of votes to elect a new President of Sri Lanka gets underway in Parliament.

11. 49 am : Presidential hopeful Anura Kumara Dissanayake nominates MP Vijitha Herath to observe the counting of votes.

11. 48 am : Presidential hopeful Dullas Alahapperuma nominates MP Dilan Perera to observe the counting of votes.

11.47 am : Presidential hopeful Ranil Wickremesinghe nominates MP Harin Fernando to sit through the counting of votes.

11. 46 am : The voting to elect a new President concludes.

11.45 am : As per the regulations, Secretary-General of Parliament commences roll call of MPs who refrained from voting before.

11. 27 am : MP D. Weerasingha was also allowed to vote ahead of his roll call due to being unwell.

11. 25 am : Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa casts his ballot. 

11.15 am : Members of Parliament allow MP Samanpriya Herath to cast his vote ahead of the roll call due to being unwell and in need of going back to the hospital.

11.10 am : Tamil National People’s Front (TNFP) MP G G Ponnambalam has abstained from voting.

11. 01 am : Presidential hopeful JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake casts his vote.

10. 44 am : General Secretary of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNFP), MP Selvarasa Gajendran has abstained from voting.

10. 40 am : Presidential hopeful Dullas Alahapperuma casts his ballot.

10.32 am : Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa casts his vote.

10. 29 am :  Presidential hopeful, Acting President and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe casts his vote.

10.24 am :  Voting for the new President officially commences with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena casting the first vote.

10.23 am : Secretary-General of Parliament displays the empty ballot box and seals it, commencing voting.

Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene informs MPs that taking mobile phones with them into the polling booths and taking photos of polling cards are both strictly prohibited.

10.20 am : Former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in Parliament to participate in the vote.

 

Preparations are underway to commence the secret ballot.

10. 15 am :  Secretary-General of Parliament reads out rules and regulations to adhere to during voting.

Acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, SLPP MP Dullas Alahapperuma, and JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake are contesting for the Presidency. 

The election for a new President will be conducted via a secret ballot in Parliament. 

10.00 am : The voting to elect a new President of Sri Lanka has commenced in Parliament.