Speaker Ashoka Sapumal Ranwala’s academic qualifications are being investigated after the title “Dr” was removed from the list of MPs on the Sri Lanka Parliament website from his profile.
Previously listed as “Dr. Ashoka Ranwala” his name now appears as “Ashoka Ranwala Mantri”, raising further doubts about the legitimacy of his purported PHD.
Disinformation researcher Dr. Sanjana Hattotuwa said there was evidence that the webpage had been edited in the past 24 hours to remove the title. Archived entries and Google search results still show the title “Dr”, but the current profile does not.
“Based on an independently verifiable archive containing the details of the Speakers of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, there is clear evidence that the webpage in question has been edited within the last 24 hours. At least one aspect of the edits made was the removal of the title ‘Dr’ from the current speaker’s entry. Google entries for the Speaker’s profile page on the Parliament website will continue to show ‘Dr,’ and this will no longer feature in the official entry. This could have been changed in the past,” he said.
