Is the Anniversary Celebration of UNP Postponed?

Fake documents prepared using specific letterheads, names of officials and signatures of various recognized institutions, organization and union federations in the country are widely circulated through social media. This is an investigation into a letter circulating on social media that purports to be an official letter of the United National Party.

Social Media Posts :

This letter, which was posted yesterday (03) under the title “To correct false statements published regarding the holding of the United National Party Convention”, was circulated on WhatsApp, purporting to be a letter sent by Mr. Vajira Abeywardena.

According to the letter, a certain media outlet has published a news report stating that the 79th anniversary celebration of the United National Party , which was scheduled to be held on 06.09.2025 , will not take place on that day. The letter states that it was published with the aim of shaming their party and its members.

It also states that the party’s anniversary will not be postponed for any reason and that such slander cannot tarnish the pride of their party’s 79 years.

The letter also states that Ranil Wickremesinghe has fully recovered and will participate in the party anniversary next Saturday.

All the members of the party were invited to this event and were informed to arrive at the Sirikotha party headquaters before 9.00 that morning.

Accordingly, we took steps to verify whether this letter was actually issued by the Chairman of the United National Party, Mr. Vajira Abeywardena, in connection with the anniversary celebration.

Fact Check :

The United National Party was founded on September 6, 1946, at Palm Court House, Gilfred Chandrawanka, Colombo, under the leadership of His Excellency D.S. Senanayake. Celebrating 79 years of pride, this anniversary, which falls on September 6, is to be celebrated in a grand manner this year at the Sri Lanka Exhibition and Convention Centre (SLECC).

Below is a previously published notice regarding this. Another notice is here .

Facebook | Archived Link

However, UNP General Secretary Attorney-at-Law Thalatha Athukorala had stated that the UNP Management Committee decided on the 2nd to postpone the UNP’s 79th anniversary celebration, and that this decision was taken considering the health condition of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The post published on Thalatha Athukorala’s official Facebook account in this regard is below.

Archived Link

Media outlets had also reported that the anniversary celebration planned for the 6th has been postponed due to the health condition of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

You can view them here , here , and here .

Despite this decision, it was stated that UNP leader Vajira Abeywardena had sent a letter stating that it had been decided to hold the UNP anniversary on the 6th as previously planned.

During the inspection , several problematic aspects of this letter, which was issued under the title ” To correct false statements published regarding the holding of the United National Party Convention”, were observed. That is, it does not state to whom it was addressed. Furthermore, if any media institution has reported a false news regarding a recognized political party like United National Party, the basic thing to do is to issue a notice stating the name of the relevant media institution and asking it to correct the relevant news item. However, it does not appear that much attention has been paid to those matters.

Furthermore, the second paragraph states that such slander cannot tarnish the pride of our party for 79 years. According to the article , how can a media report published stating that the anniversary celebration will not take place on the relevant date be used to slander or defame the party is also a question. Meanwhile, although the name Vajira Abeywardena is mentioned at the end of the article, it is not mentioned who Vajira Abeywardena is. Accordingly, a further problem arises regarding this article published using the letterhead of the United National Party.

Due to this, we inquired about this from the media division of the UNP Chairman, Mr. Vajira Abeywardena, and they said that this letter, which was prepared using the letterhead of the United National Party, is completely false. Although the 79th anniversary celebration of the United National Party was scheduled to be held on September 6th, it was later postponed based on a decision of the party, and they stated that the date of the celebration will be announced later.

The official Facebook account of UNP Chairman Vajira Abeywardena also stated that this article was a fake article.

Archived Link

Furthermore, the United National Party had also posted a note on its official Facebook page regarding this article, stating that this article, prepared using the letterhead of the United National Party, was completely false. Archived Link

Meanwhile, some news reports published yesterday (03) indicated that the postponed anniversary celebration is planned to be held on the 21st.

Here and here .

However, in this regard, the UNP says that there is still no decision on the date of the UNP anniversary celebration.

However, it appears that no reputable media outlet has reported that the anniversary celebration will be held on the 6th, as stated in the letter circulating on social media.

Join us to learn more about our fact findings.

Conclusion :

Accordingly, our investigation of the facts shows that the letter circulating on social media titled “To correct false statements regarding the holding of the United National Party Convention” is not a letter issued by the party or the party chairman, but a fake letter. Furthermore, the UNP anniversary, which was scheduled to be held on the 6th, has been postponed due to the health condition of Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, and so far, the party has not announced an official date for this celebration.