University of jaffna, University in Kokuvil East, Sri Lanka

The row resurfaced after Fernando, in a lengthy Facebook post, on Saturday said that Rajapaksa's name has not appeared in the latest Federal Register of the US even though the American law requires that the names of citizens who have lawfully revoked their citizenship to have their name published in the register, reports the Daily Financial Times.However, a group of lawyers for Rajapaksa, led by Ali Sabry PC, on Sunday strongly refuted the allegation saying that it could take months or even a year for the name of a person who renounces US citizenship to get on the Federal Register.Sabry also produced documents at a press briefing which he said confirmed that the SLPP candidate was no longer a US citizen."Harin Fernando has raised the issue of Gotabaya Rajapaksa's name not being in the new Federal Register and hence claimed that he was still a US citizen. This is a diabolical lie. I have the original US passport, issued in 2012 to Rajapaksa, valid for 10 years; but after he renounced his citizenship, a seal saying 'cancel' has been stamped on it."I also have the official oath of renunciation he took on April 17 with an embossed seal, and I also have the original certificate of loss of citizenship, which has been approved by the US State Department," Sabry told reporters.He said Rajapaksa wass now a Sri Lankan citizen and all the necessary documentation has been submitted to the Election Commission for perusal.Fernando, in his post on Saturday, said that despite Rajapaksa's claim that he submitted his application to revoke the citizenship on April 17 and received confirmation on May 3, his name was not in the second quarter report of the registry.However, on Sunday afternoon, Facebook had taken down Fernando's post, prompting him to take to Twitter to vent his anger where he condemned the social media giant for censoring his posts."American companies shouldn't interfere on behalf of an American contesting Sri Lanka's election. I stand by my every word," he tweeted.Political parties in Sri Lanka, including the ruling United National Party, have accused Rajapaksa for having US citizenship and claimed that he was in the country for over 10 years.The former Defence Minister held a dual US citizenship but has claimed to have renounced it earlier this yeat for contesting the Presidential election.( With inputs from IANS )

University Of JaffnaFOLLOW

University of jaffna, Latest News

After 10 long years the Pakistan team will play their first test on home soil after the PCB officially announced the schedule of the test series against Sri Lanka. ...

Clean governance, boosting economic growth and ensuring national security were at the forefront of key messages delivered by Sri Lanka's presidential contenders, as they ended their campaigns ahead of the vote on Saturday. ...

There is very little chance of resolution of the Tamil issue in Sri Lanka, and particularly so if Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former defence secretary and brother of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, wins the November 16 presidential elections, says a new ...

Sri Lanka goes to the polls on Saturday for a presidential election that will see two powerful contestants former defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and cabinet minister Sajith Premadasa pitted against each other. ...

It was on this very day in 2014 that Rohit Sharma broke barriers of world cricket and went on to score the highest individual score in ODI cricket till date. ...

The Election Commission (EC) of Sri Lanka on Tuesday announced that a team consisting of 17 foreign poll observers was expected to arrive in the island nation later in the day and also on Wednesday ahead of Saturday's presidential election. ...

In a first in South Asia, Sri Lanka has criminalised several offences related to match-fixing in an attempt to stamp out the corruption scandals that have plagued the national team in the past few years. ...

A fresh row has erupted over the US citizenship of Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) presidential candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa, with incumbent Sports Minister Harin Fernando alleging that the former had not completed the process of renouncing it. ...