Sri Lanka's Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa waves at his supporters after he was elected as a presidential candidate in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sept. 26, 2019. Sri Lanka's ruling United National Front (UNF) on Thursday elected Sajith Premadasa as its presidential candidate to contest the upcoming presidential polls, the UNF said in a formal announcement. (Photo by A. Hapauarachci/Xinhua)

COLOMBO, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's ruling United National Front (UNF) on Thursday elected Housing and Construction Minister Sajith Premadasa as its presidential candidate to contest the upcoming presidential polls, the UNF said in a formal announcement.

Premadasa was unanimously elected as the candidate at a United National Party (UNP) working committee meeting which was held in capital Colombo.

The UNP is part of the UNF Alliance.

The meeting was chaired by UNP leader and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

"The Working Committee has unanimously approved party leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe's recommendation that Sajith Premadasa be nominated as the Presidential candidate," the UNP said on its official Twitter account.

Premadasa is the deputy leader of the UNP.

Sri Lanka's Elections Commission announced last week that the country's presidential elections will be held on Nov. 16.

The island country's main opposition party has named former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's younger brother and former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa as its presidential candidate.

The minority Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has named leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake as the JVP's presidential candidate.

Elections Commission officials, quoted in local media reports, said that there could be a record 18 candidates in this year's presidential polls.