President’s Office responds to media report:

President was not scheduled to be at IIFA Awards

The lead news item in the Sunday Times yesterday (June 6, 2010) titled ‘No show by President at IIFA’ is wholly incorrect. The reference to the President’s absence at this event in the news item which states that President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday kept away from the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards night at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium along with almost all of Sri Lanka’s cinema personalities, is without any basis of truth as the President was not scheduled to be present at this event.

There is also an attempt to seek credibility for this incorrect news item by stating that: No formal reason was given for the President’s non-appearance despite his security detail being present at the venue Saturday night. The security detail present at the venue was that provided for First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa.