COLOMBO—Sri Lankan lawmakers voted in parliament on Wednesday to choose the next president from three contenders amid tight security, hoping the new leader would pull the island out of a crippling economic and political crisis.
A win for acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe, one of the main two contenders but opposed by many ordinary Sri Lankans, could lead to more demonstrations by people furious with the ruling elite after months of severe shortages of fuel, food, and medicines, several protesters have said.
