“I would like to tell the people I know what they are suffering,” he added. “We’ve gone backwards. We have to pull ourselves back on our feet. We don’t need five years or 10 years. By the end of next year let’s start to stabilize and certainly by 2024 let’s have a functioning economy that starts to grow.” Wickremesinghe’s exclusive interview with CNN was his first with an international news organization since he was appointed deputy president by former leader Rajapaksa, who fled the crisis-hit country last week. Wickremesinghe added that he had spoken to Rajapaksa since she first left Sri Lanka for the Maldives and then traveled to Singapore. However, Wickremesinghe said he did not know if the former leader was still in Singapore or elsewhere. Wickremesinghe is now in the running to become Sri Lanka’s next president, with parliament electing a new leader on Wednesday. The former six-time prime minister, who is backed by Sri Lanka’s ruling Podujana Peramuna party, will face at least three other candidates. But Wickremesinghe’s candidacy threatened to inflame an already volatile situation in the South Asian nation of 22 million. Since March, Sri Lanka has been gripped by a growing economic crisis that has left the country struggling to buy essential imports, including fuel, food and medicine. Protesters have taken to the streets to demand the resignations of the country’s leaders and last week appeared to score a victory when Rajapaksa vowed to step down, then fled the country after thousands of protesters stormed his residence and some swam in his swimming pool. Wickremesinghe’s private residence was torched by angry protesters shortly afterwards. Wickremesinghe — prime minister before Rajapaksa stepped down — has promised to step down to make way for a unity government. He told CNN that his burning home and many of its contents could not be saved. It lost more than 4,000 books, including some centuries-old ones, Wickremesinghe said. A 125-year-old piano was also destroyed by the fire, he added. But despite that, on Monday, he reiterated his desire to compete for the top spot, telling CNN it was “not the same administration.” “I’m not myself, people know that,” he said. “I came here to handle the economy.” When asked why he wanted to become president and become a further potential target, Wickremesinghe said: “I don’t want this to happen to the country. What happened to me I don’t want others to suffer… I certainly don’t” don’t want it to happen this to no one else.” Meanwhile, life for Sri Lankans remains chaotic as they navigate the country’s crippling crisis.
People continue to line up outside gas stations for hours – even days – desperately hoping to buy fuel. Many local businesses are closed and supermarket shelves are becoming increasingly barren. As anger continued to rise, Wickremesinghe said people could protest “peacefully”. “Do not prevent MPs and parliament from fulfilling their duty,” he said. Wickremesinghe had declared a nationwide state of emergency from Monday in an attempt to quell any potential social unrest ahead of the parliamentary presidential vote on July 20. “We are trying to prevent (the police and the army) from using weapons,” Wickremesinghe said. “They have been attacked in some cases, but we still told them to try not to use weapons.” But Wickremesinghe said he “can understand what the (Sri Lankan people) are going through”. “I told them there had been three bad weeks … And the whole system had broken down,” he said. “We weren’t going to have gas, we weren’t going to have diesel. It was bad.” Wickremesinghe said he would not let the protesters prevent parliament from voting on Wednesday or allow more buildings to be stormed. “There must be law and order in the country,” he said. CNN’s Hannah Ritchie and Wayne Chang contributed reporting.