Outside the parliament, hundreds of heavily armed troops and police stood guard, but there were no signs of demonstrators. Wickremesinghe, 73, has the backing of the Rajapaksas' SLPP, the largest bloc in the 225-member parliament, in the election. As acting president, Wickremesinghe has extended a state of emergency that gives police and security forces sweeping powers, and last week he ordered troops to evict protesters from state buildings they had occupied. Two smaller parties pledged their support to Wickremesinghe's main challenger, Dullas Alahapperuma, while a Tamil party with two votes said they were switching sides to support Wickremesinghe. Demonstrators shout slogans against interim Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe during a protest in front of the Fort railway station in Colombo on July 19, 2022.

Source: Daily Nation July 20, 2022 19:21 UTC