Premadasa named ruling coalition's presidential candidate

Sri Lanka’s governing coalition has named its charismatic deputy leader, Sajith Premadasa, as its candidate for in November’s presidential election, ending a long tussle with the party leader, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, over the nomination.

The United National Party’s official Twitter account said a working committee endorsed the 52-year-old Premadasa on Thursday.

Premadasa is the son of former Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was assassinated by now-defeated Tamil Tiger separatists in 1993.

Premadasa was elected to Parliament for the first time in 2000 and served as deputy minister of health from 2001 until 2004. He became minister of housing in 2015.