Facebook posts misquote Sri Lanka's PM on 'bankrupting' country

"Am I the only one who thinks this isn't a good thing?" read a Sinhala-language Facebook post from an account with more than 13,000 followers.

It showed an image with the quote: "We don't have experience in building the country. We will learn it by experience in the future - Harini Amarasuriya".

Text below the fabricated quote suggested a journalist questioning the prime minister was left bemused by her purported remark.

Image

Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on September 26, 2024

Harini Amarasuriya, 54, a sociology lecturer first elected to parliament four years ago, was announced as Sri Lanka's new prime minister on September 24 (archived link). 

This followed Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake's victory in the country's presidential election days earlier as voters rejected the old political guard widely accused of pushing the South Asian nation towards economic ruin (archived link). 

It was the first poll since the Indian Ocean country suffered its worst financial meltdown in 2022, when it ran out of dollars to import essentials (archived link). 

The false claim was also shared on Facebook pages and groups with thousands of followers.

However, footage published by local media shows the false posts misquoted her.

Misquoted joke

Sri Lankan outlet the Daily Mirror Online published a video on September 22 of Amarasuriya talking to reporters (archived link). 

Asked by a journalist if the new government lacked experience, she responded: "Well, we don't have experience in making the country bankrupt for sure" -- in an apparent dig at previous administrations -- to which the reporter laughed.

"We will gain experience in building the country," she added.

She did not say that the government lacked experience in building the country, as Facebook posts falsely claimed.

Other Sri Lankan outlets including Newswire also reported on Amarasuriya's comments (archived link).