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Sri Lankan lawmakers chose six-time Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe as president Wednesday to succeed the ousted leader who fled the country in a vote that risks reigniting political turmoil in the troubled South Asian island nation, Associated Press reported.

Former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Wickremesinghe as prime minister in May, hoping to bring stability to a country engulfed in its worst economic crisis in memory. Wickremesinghe became acting president after Rajapaksa fled the country last week and resigned by email.

Wickremesinghe, 73, is a seasoned politician with wide experience in diplomatic and international affairs. He has been leading crucial talks on an economic bailout package with the International Monetary Fund and was backed by members of the fragmented ruling coalition. But he is unpopular among voters who view him as a holdover from Rajapaksa’s government, according to Associated Press.

The vote of 134 lawmakers put Wickremesinghe ahead of former government minister Dullas Alahapperuma, who received 82 votes. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has clarified that Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will visit the United States at an appropriate time.

The Ministry made it clear about the visit at a time when rumors have been making rounds that Prime Minister Deuba’s visit to the United States has been canceled.

Sewa Lamsal, spokesperson at the Ministry, said that the Prime Minister’s visit to the United States is being worked out at one level.

“The Prime Minister has been waiting for a favorable time to visit the United States. There is no truth about the cancellation of the visit,” she said.

The Ministry said that the reply about the cancellation of the State Partnership Program (SPP) will be sent to the United States only after the effective preparation.

Chitra Lekha Yadav has been appointed as the chief whip and Min Bishwokarma as the whip of the Parliamentary Party of the Nepali Congress.

Chief Secretary at the party office Krishna Prasad Paudel said that Parliamentary Party leader and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed them on Wednesday.

Yadav has been appointed as the chief whip after Bal Krishna Khand was appointed the Home Minister.

Similarly, Nepali Congress central member Bishwokarma was appointed as the whip after Pushpa Bhusal was elected as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives recently.

Women and Social Committee under the House of Representatives has directed the National Women Commission to work in a more sensitive way to serve the needs of violence survivors.

According to committee President Niru Devi Pal, today's meeting of the committee instructed the NWC to focus on promotion of overall interests of women and to deliver effectively. The conclusion of the meeting is that NWC, despite constitutional recognition, has not been able to connect and coordinate with other bodies working for the rights of women. The committee urged NWC to ensure effective collaboration and make integrated efforts to meet its objectives and goals.

The goals of the commission are to eliminate all sorts of violence against women and ensure social, economic and political empowerment of women through their meaningful inclusive and proportional representation in all sectors and levels of government and non-government bodies and the effective enforcement of national and international legal instruments related to the rights of women. Besides, the assessment of the meeting is that the NWC has also failed to ensure in-house cooperation and coordination. "It is a matter of concern that survivors of violence against women have been deprived of necessary assistance," the meeting said.