Sirisena’s slip: 30 Vs 70!

In what was perhaps a slip of the tongue, President Maithripala Sirisena during his Independence Day address yesterday said 30 years of independence twice during his address at the 70th Independence Day celebrations. The slip was noted by many people during the event, which was broadcast live on national TV.  Sirisena was reading his speech off a teleprompter at the celebrations, and speculation was rife that he had misread the text. However, others noted that the mistake could have been a misprint. In 1988 Sirisena contested and won a seat in parliament from his electorate of Polonnaruwa.