The leader of Sri Lanka’s biggest opposition party has urged the IMF to provide support to ease the country’s humanitarian crisis and cushion the blow of reforms needed to save its ruined economy.

Sajith Premadasa, who is one of the main contenders as MPs prepare to vote for the country’s next president, called for a general election to be organised as soon as possible “if the country is to be saved”. The next general election is set to take place in 2025. Premadasa also accused Ranil Wickremesinghe, a rival who is favoured to replace the ousted president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of “lacking legitimacy”.

The extraordinary vote by MPs, scheduled for Wednesday, will cap a months-long revolt against the powerful Rajapaksa clan, which culminated in the ransacking of the presidential office and private residence, and Rajapaksa’s night-time escape by plane to the Maldives and then Singapore.