Did Sumanthiran say “the Sinhalese can only be defeated if they vote for Sajith” to Northern voters?

A post circulating on social media carrying the headline “Sinhalese can only be defeated by voting for Sajith” quoting MP Sumanthiran caught the attention of FactSeeker.

It was revealed that the post was edited appear as a news article.

The Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi party has claimed that they will be supporting Sajith Premadasa in the upcoming Presidential Election at a political rally that took place in the North.

FactSeeker looked into this post to understand its accuracy.

As the posts claimed to be based on news reports published on the Mawubima and Ceylon Today newspapers. Upon reviewing, FactSeeker understood that no such reports had been published on both newspapers.

The posts claimed that MP Sumanthiran made the statement this during a press conference on September 2.

FactSeeker reached out to MP Sumanthiran regarding these posts, who explained that a report published by two newspapers about the 2019 presidential election is now being circulated. He clarified that the truth had been distorted, and he had never made such statements.

A statement made in the Tamil language in Batticaloa on November 11, 2019, related to the 2019 presidential election, was misrepresented by Mawubima and Ceylon Today newspapers. Legal action has been taken against the publications with cases is still pending.

MP Sumanthiran urged the Tamil community to vote for Sajith, as he believes that “Sajith is the one who can advocate for the minorities in Sri Lanka”.

Further investigation into the matter revealed that news articles were published on November 13, 2019, in the relevant newspapers.

Additionally, letters from Mr. Sumanthiran requesting legal action on the issue was also uncovered.

Accordingly, FactSeeker confirms that the interpretation of the statement made by MP Sumanthiran is misleading.