evidence: Mr Wickremesinghe, a senior MP and leader of the United National Party (UNP) which once ruled Sri Lanka, has run twice for president and lost - in 1999 and 2005. [...] Mr Wickremesinghe then became acting president on 13 July when Mr Rajapaksa fled. But his new role got off to an inauspicious start when he declared a nationwide state of emergency, only to have it defied by thousands of protesters who stormed his office in the capital, Colombo. [...] One major reason people are angry at Mr Wickremesinghe has been his perceived closeness to the Rajapaksa family. Many people believe he helped shield them when they lost power in 2015.