SL PM set to lose job after presidential vote

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe looks set to lose his job after next week’s presidential election, with the two leading candidates declaring on Thursday they will dump him.

Main opposition candidate Gotabhaya Rajapakse and Sajith Premadasa from Wickremesinghe’s ruling United National Party (UNP) are in a close race ahead of the November 16 polls and both said they would appoint their own PMs if they win. "I will appoint a new prime minister who can command the majority of parliament," Premadasa, 52, said in a televised address on Thursday. His remarks appeared to seal the fate of Wickremesinghe, 70, who is nominally the leader of the UNP but faces a revolt within the ranks of the party hierarchy.