Navaratne had met Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa on 4 September and due to contradicting media reports about the said meeting, FactSeeker intended to investigate it.

When FactSeeker observed the daily newspapers on 5 September it had been reported that Navaratne had joined Samagi Jana Balawegaya. However, following these news reports Navaratne held a media briefing stating that he did not join the said party.

Navaratne mentioned that Premadasa had invited his party for talks with other political parties to form a broader national alliance in the upcoming Presidential Election.

If so, did media reports publish this news to mislead the public?

Following which the media unit of the Opposition Leader’s Office had released a video and a press release to the media in regard to the meeting between Navaratne and Premadasa. ‘MP Asanka Navaratne joins hands with the leader of the opposition’ was the headline of the announcement. The sound of the video published with it was disabled.

After the publication of these media reports, a press release was issued on 5 September signed by the General Secretary of Samagi Jana Balawega, Ranjith Madduma Bandara.

It was stated that a discussion in the series of talks with the opposition political parties was held with the Leader of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party, Asanka Navaratne, on the 4 September in order to get support for the broad alliance that the United People’s Force will build in the future.

The announcement further stated that there was a long discussion about the current political situation and the challenges facing the country and Navaratne pointed out the need to discuss it with all the political parties of the opposition and also pointed out the importance of holding these discussions in the future.

Therefore, Fact seeker verifies that the announcement issued by the opposition leader’s office after meeting Asanka Navaratne is misleading.