After 100 days of protests, Sri Lankans prepare for more

Parliament appears set to replace the president protesters forced out of office last week with another politician they despise

Security personnel stand guard after a raid on an anti-government protest camp in Colombo early on Friday, amid Sri Lanka's economic crisis. Reuters

Anti-government protesters speak with members of Sri Lankan security forces. AFP

A policeman walks past slogans against the newly elected Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickramasinghe in Colombo. AFP

Ranil Wickremesinghe is sworn in as the new president of Sri Lanka by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya. Reuters

Mr Wickremesinghe, centre, arrives at his swearing-in ceremony in Colombo. EPA

Ranil Wickremesinghe leaves a Buddhist temple in Colombo after he was named as Sri Lanka's eighth executive president. Reuters

Sri Lankans protest after Mr Wickremesinghe defeated Dullas Alahapperuma, a member of the breakaway faction of the ruling Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, by 134 votes to 82 in a parliamentary vote to pick the next president. Getty

Dinesh Gunawardena, centre, leader of the House of Parliament, arrives at Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo. Getty

Soldiers stand guard at the Presidential Secretariat after Mr Wickremesinghe was announced as Sri Lanka's new president. Getty

Protesters watch a live broadcast of the parliamentary vote to pick Sri Lanka's new president. EPA

A screen grab of Mr Wickremesinghe, bottom left, during the vote count announcement in Sri Lanka's Parliament. AFP

Mr Alahapperuma, bottom right, during the parliamentary vote in Colombo. AFP

A supporter celebrates in Colombo after Mr Wickremesinghe was elected as president. Reuters

Mr Wickremesinghe's supporters celebrate in the capital after his election as Sri Lankan president. Getty

Sri Lankans protest after the announcement of Mr Wickremesinghe as president. Getty

Demonstrators watch a public screen as voting begins in Sri Lanka's Parliament. Reuters

Protesters in Colombo demand Mr Wickremesinghe's resignation as prime minister and acting president before the parliamentary vote. AP

Demonstrators carry an effigy of Mr Wickremesinghe. AFP

Demonstrators take part in a procession against Mr Wickremesinghe. AFP

Demonstrators shout slogans. AFP

Sri Lankan demonstrators take part in a celebration in Colombo to mark the 100th day of protests. AFP

After months of street protests, Sri Lanka’s parliament will elect a new president to replace Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday. AFP

The country faces its worst economic crisis in decades due to the lack of foreign reserves, resulting in severe shortages of food, fuel, medicines and imported goods. Getty

Soldiers lower the national flag at Galle Face Green in Colombo. Getty

A demonstrator writes a slogan against acting president Ranil Wickremesinghe. AFP

Mr Wickremesinghe is a top contender in the race to succeed Mr Rajapaksa. AFP

People light candles in the capital in memory of protesters killed or wounded since the demonstrations began. EPA

Police officers stand guard outside Parliament in Colombo. Reuters

The vandalised office of the Sri Lankan president inside his official residence in the capital. Getty

Police officials gather evidence at the president’s official residence after it was overrun by anti-government protesters on July 9. AFP

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, right, is sworn in as acting president by Chief Justice Jayantha Jayasuriya in Colombo. EPA

Parliamentary Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena addresses the media in Colombo. AFP

People dance in Colombo as they celebrate the resignation of Mr Rajapaksa amid the country’s economic crisis. Reuters

Demonstrators cheer after hearing news that Mr Rajapaksa had emailed his letter of resignation after fleeing months of anti-government protests. Bloomberg

Members of the media wait outside the VIP complex of Changi International Airport in Singapore for the arrival of Mr Rajapaksa, his wife and two bodyguards. Sri Lanka's president left the Maldives on July 14 aboard a Saudia Airlines plane bound for Singapore. AFP

A Saudia Airlines plane believed to be carrying Mr Rajapaksa arrives on the tarmac at Changi Airport in Singapore. EPA

Police officers walk outside Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office, a day after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed the building, when he was named acting president. AFP

A Saudia airline Boeing 787 Dreamliner bound for Singapore and carrying Sri Lanka's fleeing president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and bodyguards prepares to take off at the Velana International airport, in the Maldives. AFP

Sri Lankan soldiers stand guard near the parliament building in Colombo, a day after thousands of anti-government protesters stormed the prime minister's office. AFP

A soldier walks past a demonstrator sitting in a meeting room, at the prime minister's offices. AFP

Soldiers patrol the buildings of the prime minister's office. AFP

Troops make their way to an anti-government protest at the prime minister's office in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Bloomberg

Demonstrators takes pictures inside the complex housing the Sri Lankan prime minister's offices. AFP

An injured protester lies in an ambulance after clashes with police near parliament in Colombo. AP

People wait to enter the presidential palace in Colombo, Sri Lanka. AP

Protesters in Colombo hold Sri Lankan flags as they stand on top of the office of acting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, amid the country's economic crisis. Reuters

Protesters demand the resignation of Mr Wickremasinghe. Bloomberg

Police officers stand guard in Colombo. Reuters

Police fire tear gas to control the crowds. Reuters

A protester pours water on a man as tensions soar. Reuters

Protesters throw teargas shells. AP Photo

Protesters storm Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office in Colombo, Sri Lanka and demand his resignation, after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the economic and political crisis for the Maldives. AP

Police use tear gas to disperse Sri Lankan protesters outside the prime minister's office. AP

A protester sleeps on vandalised furniture inside the presidential palace in Colombo, which has been occupied by demonstrators for days. Getty Images

A satellite image shows people gathered outside Sri Lanka's Parliament building in Colombo amid the country's economic and political crisis. AFP

Youths play carrom inside the Sri Lankan prime minister's official residence, which was stormed by protesters at the weekend. Reuters

People sit on a couch inside the prime minister's official residence. The protests against the government have simmered since May, but erupted again last Saturday. Reuters

Army cadets march past people queuing to get inside Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo. AFP

People visit Mr Rajapaksa's official residence in Colombo. It was reported on Wednesday that he had fled the country for the Maldives. AFP

A man takes a selfie at the presidential palace. AP

Sri Lankans line up to take a look inside the presidential palace in Colombo. EPA

Crowds flock to take in the presidential palace. EPA

A man takes a rest inside the prime minister's official residence in Colombo. EPA

People sing songs inside the prime minister's official residence. EPA

Protesters erect a banner on the presidential palace three days after it was stormed by anti-government demonstrators in Colombo. AP

People wait in a queue to collect gas at a distribution point in Colombo. AFP

Sri Lankans quarrel as they wait for gas at a distribution point. AFP

A driver of an autorickshaw sleeps inside his vehicle while waiting in a queue to buy petrol at a fuel station in Colombo. AP

Sri Lanka's protest movement reached its 100th day on Sunday after forcing one president from office and it is now turning its sights on his successor as the country's economic crisis continues.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his palace shortly before demonstrators invaded it last weekend and on Thursday resigned from the presidency.

His mismanagement has been blamed for Sri Lanka's financial turmoil, which has forced its 22 million people to endure shortages of food, fuel and medicines since late last year.

The campaign to oust Mr Rajapaksa, organised mainly through posts on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, drew people from across Sri Lanka's often unbridgeable ethnic divides.

United by economic hardships, minority Tamils and Muslims joined the majority Sinhalese to demand the exit of the once-powerful Rajapaksa clan.

It began as a two-day protest on April 9, when tens of thousands of people set up camp in front of Mr Rajapaksa's office — a crowd so much larger than the organisers' expectations that they decided to stay.

Under Sri Lanka's constitution, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was automatically installed as acting president after Mr Rajapaksa's resignation, and is now the leading candidate to succeed him permanently in a parliamentary vote next week.

A demonstrator protests against interim Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo on Sunday. AFP

But the veteran politician is despised by the protesters as an ally of the Rajapaksa clan, four brothers who have dominated the island's politics for years.

Social media activist and protest campaign supporter Prasad Welikumbura said Mr Wickremesinghe, too, should go.

"It's been 100 days since it started," Mr Welikumbura wrote on Twitter.

But the protest movement was still far from achieving "any concrete change in the system", he said.

Mr Rajapaksa's elder brother Mahinda resigned as premier in May and he appointed Mr Wickremesinghe, a five-time prime minister, to replace him despite his being an opposition MP representing a party with only one seat in parliament.

The move did little to assuage the protesters' anger, and after they stormed Mr Rajapaksa's colonial-era Presidential Palace on July 9 they also set fire to Mr Wickremesinghe's private home.

Now the Rajapaksas' SLPP party, which has more than 100 MPs in the 225-member parliament, is backing Mr Wickremesinghe in the vote scheduled for Wednesday.

A spokesman for the protesters told AFP: "We are now discussing with groups involved in the 'Aragalaya' [struggle] on turning the campaign against Ranil Wickremesinghe."

Numbers at the protest site have diminished since Mr Rajapaksa's exit, and the demonstrators have vacated three key state buildings they occupied — the 200-year-old presidential palace, the Prime Minister's official Temple Trees residence and his office.

Mr Wickremesinghe has ordered the military and the police to do whatever it takes to ensure order and defence officials said additional troops and police will be poured to the capital on Monday to bolster security around parliament before of the vote.