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Sri Lankan PM faces backlash from own party

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe faces a backlash from his own party, after a minister revealed several parliamentarians were ready to put forward a no-faith motion against him, if he refuses to step down as party leader.

State Minister of Irrigation Palitha Range Bandara told reporters yesterday that a “number of MPs are ready” to back a no faith motion against the current prime minister, calling on Mr Wickremesinghe to step down from his position as head of the United National Party.

"In this situation, the UNP has no further journey,” he said. “The UNP needs to make a complete change if it wants to go forward. First of all in the leadership.”

 Cabinet reshuffle or any other changes will not take the party forward," he added.

See more from ColomboPage here and the Daily Mirror here.

His comments come after the UNP was dealt a massive defeat former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s party at the local government elections earlier this month.  Yesterday, the Sri Lankan cabinet was reshuffled in the wake of the electoral defeat, with Mr Wickremesinghe sworn in as the country's Law and Order Minister.

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