• Party Gen. Secy. says didn’t check candidates’ edu. qualifications pre-nomination due to non-necessity 
• SLPP invites entire Parliament to support NCM

The National People's Power (NPP) party stated that they did not look into their Parliamentary candidates' educational qualifications during the selection process, and will therefore allow the Speaker of the Parliament Ashoka Ranwala to address allegations surrounding the doctorate degree that he claims to possess.

Questions about the authenticity of the doctorate from a foreign university that Dr. Ranwala, who entered the Parliament from the NPP ticket, claims to purportedly possess, and the recent removal of the ‘Dr.’ title prefix from his name in the Parliamentary website, have caused a public discussion.

Responding to an inquiry made by Ada Derana, Speaker Ranwala had stated that he would address the allegations at the appropriate time. The Speaker did not specify a date or time when he would respond and all attempts to contact him proved futile.

When queried by The Daily Morning as to whether the NPP would look into the authenticity of the Speaker's alleged doctorate, NPP General Secretary and Government Parliamentarian, Dr. Nihal Abeysinghe said that the party had allowed Ranwala to make a clarification on the issue. "This is something personal. When we were selecting candidates, we didn’t look into their educational qualifications. It was not relevant in politics. It is now that such a need has arisen. So we, as the party, have allowed him to make a statement and clarify it. We expect that he would make a true statement about his qualifications. We are waiting with confidence."

His comments follow allegations on Ranwala’s academic qualifications being called into question. Soon after Ranwala's Election as the Speaker of the 10th Parliament, a series of social media posts emerged questioning the accuracy of his educational qualifications. Individuals claiming to be his contemporaries at the Sapugaskanda Oil Refinery, where Ranwala was previously employed as an operator, have alleged that the stated qualifications are false. The topic soon became a public discussion, and the main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya has even warned of a no confidence/faith motion (NCM) against the Speaker for allegedly having misled the public by presenting himself with qualifications that he really does not possess. 

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) of the Parliamentary Opposition had, in a post on the social media platform X, invited all MPs from across the aisle, both Opposition and the Government, to support the NCM they plan to bring against Speaker Ranwala. The post read: “The growing allegations over Ranwala’s academic qualifications and his failure to address them are deeply concerning. As the Speaker, he leads the Constitutional Council responsible for key Government appointments. A Speaker with such a tainted record undermines the Parliament. We, the SLPP, invite all Opposition and Government Members in the Parliament to support the NCM on Ranwala.” 

Multiple attempts to contact a number of Members of the main Parliamentary Opposition, the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), to ascertain whether they would support the SLPP's NCM or submit their own resolution, proved futile.