by Our Correspondent in Colombo
Colombo-based think tank Verite Research has come under fire for allegedly distorting facts and engaging in politically motivated deception. The organisation is accused of falsely labelling former President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s statements as “blatantly false” by deliberately inserting a word he never used, thereby twisting the context of his response.
The issue stems from an interview conducted on Head to Head with Ranil Wickremesinghe, where journalist Frances Harrison made a claim regarding Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring, stating:
“Sri Lanka basically raided its pension fund in order to do debt restructuring. This is a fund where 92% of the members are extremely poor. Should you not have taxed private bondholders, banks, and so on? You got Sri Lanka out of debt by doing it on the back of the poor.”
This statement was characterised as a “blatantly vicious” allegation, aiming to tarnish the image of both Sri Lanka and Wickremesinghe. In response, the former President provided a detailed rebuttal:
“On the EPF we had to reduce the debt by 4-6%. 2.6% was taken up by bondholders and the creditor nations, then 1% of that came from the banks and in the case of the EPF, what we dealt with was the maturity extensions. So not a single person has lost a cent in that.”
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka later reinforced this stance in its press release on 14th September, stating that the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) would not face liquidity constraints and that no reductions would be made to members’ account balances. This official statement directly supports Wickremesinghe’s response, affirming that the debt restructuring process did not cause financial loss to EPF members.
However, the controversy escalated when Verite Research allegedly inserted the word ONLY into Wickremesinghe’s statement, thereby twisting its meaning and creating room for criticism. This manipulation has been called out as a deliberate act of intellectual dishonesty, designed to support a political agenda.
Nishan De Mel, a man behind this so-called think tank, is described on Verite Research’s website as “one of Sri Lanka’s most respected and influential economists, with extensive academic, public policy, and private sector experience.” His intervention reportedly amplified this misrepresentation, turning it into a widely circulated criticism of Wickremesinghe. The think tank’s alleged distortion of facts has raised concerns over the credibility of its so-called fact-checking practices.
Critics argue that Verite Research and its associates must be held accountable for their alleged intellectual fraud. As misinformation continues to shape political debates, it is crucial to scrutinise the motivations behind so-called “fact-checking” efforts and demand greater responsibility from those influencing public perception.
The controversy surrounding De Mel and his affiliations with entities accused of misleading the public underscores the need for vigilance against politically driven deception. If think tanks are to maintain their credibility, they must ensure that their analyses are rooted in factual accuracy rather than partisan bias.
