The President of Sri Lanka is scheduled to be elected by the Parliament of Sri Lanka in a secret ballot on 20 July 2022 to complete the remainder of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa's term, after his resignation on 14 July. The constitution requires for a successor to be elected within 30 days. Three Candidates were nominated in the Parliament on 19 July in advance of the election.

The new president is chosen with the aim of getting the country out of financial crisis. This is the first time in 44 years that the Parliament will be directly elected. 

Secretary General of Parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake, announced that the process of electing a President, from one of the 225 MPs, would take place as per the provisions of the Presidential Elections (Special Provisions) Act No 2 of 1981, and asked MPs to propose and second suitable candidates.

Opposition Leader Premadasa proposed the name of MP Alahapperuma and the proposal was seconded by MP Prof. GL Peiris, who is also the Chairman of the SLPP.

Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena proposed the name of Acting President Wickremesinghe for the presidency, and it was seconded by Galle District MP Manusha Nanayakkara. Wickremesinghe is the only UNP MP in Parliament.

JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s name was proposed by MP Vijitha Herath and was seconded by MP Dr. Harini Amarasuriya.

Parliament Secretary General Dasanayake announced that he had accepted all three names officially for the election of the new President.

Since there were no other nominations for the contest, sittings lasted only 10 minutes yesterday and the House was adjourned till 10 am today. The election of the President scheduled to commence at 10 am today as per a motion moved by Leader of the House, Gunawardena.

Meanwhile, Acting President Renil Wickramasinghe has declared a state of emergency in the country. He said that he is convinced that the police is unable to protect the lives and property of the people and in this situation emergency is declared by giving more powers to the force. The opposition has strongly criticized this.