Sri Lanka bank leadership vote falsely described as 'opposition party political victory'

"The NPP wins the election of the Deniyaya SANASA city bank election with 86% majority power," says a Sinhala-language Facebook post published here on June 19, 2023.

It appears to refer to a local bank in the southern Sri Lankan town of Deniyaya (archived link).

The image featured in the post shows NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the party's compass symbol.

"Small steps until the next general election," the post's caption says.

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Screenshot of the Facebook post captured on July 3, 2023

The posts surfaced after Sri Lankan local elections scheduled for March 9 were postponed after the government said it had no money to finance the polls. The island has been battling a crippling economic crisis over the last three years (archived link).

The Supreme Court on March 3 ordered the Election Commission to go ahead with the polls. The Commission said it would announce a new election date in due course.

Posts with the same false claim have also been shared on Facebook here and here.

However, the bank's manager has told AFP the vote was not linked to any political parties.

'Absurd' posts

Deepa Shyamali, the manager of the Deniyaya SANASA city bank, told AFP on June 29: "This is a false claim. The SANASA bank is not involved in any political activity in any capacity."

She said the vote was to elect a vice chairperson of the bank's executive board on June 18 as there were two candidates for the position.

"So we had to hold a vote to decide whom to appoint and it is a completely apolitical procedure," Shyamali said.

She also directed AFP to a Facebook post published by the bank here on June 19, which highlighted a part of the meeting where the voting took place. The post does not mention the NPP (archived link).

Sarath Gunasena, who was elected as vice chairperson in the vote, also told AFP on July 24 she was not an NPP member.

"I do not represent any political interest. I was nominated by other account holders because of my stature as an upstanding member of our community and that had nothing to do with politics. These are vicious claims aimed at tarnishing my achievement," Gunasena said.

Upul Ranjan, a spokesperson for the NPP, also told AFP on June 23 the claim was "baseless and absurd".

AFP has previously debunked false claims related to Sri Lanka's opposition here and here.