Veteran writer and socio-political commentator Nalaka Gunawardena, in one of his recent tweets, has described an interesting element of President Maithripala Sirisena's personality. 

"Like his predecessor, @MaithripalaS likes to brag in public, trying to project an image of a 'problem-solver'. It would be good if he can at least get his facts right in such grandstanding. So, who is the PM of Pakistan again?" Gunawardena said. 

The writer, who has a strong social media presence, made this remark referring to a recent incident where the President shot himself in the foot, while trying to brag about his intervention in resolving the fertilizer crises. 

Sirisena, addressing a UPFA event at the Sugathadasa Indoor stadium last week, said he spoke to a Pakistani Prime Minister named Mohamed Shareef over the telephone seeking help to resolve the fertilizer crisis. The reference was obviously to the former Prime Minister of that country whose name was Nawaz Shariff. There was no Prime Minister called Mohammed Shareef in the documented history of Pakistan. 

The present Prime Minister of Pakistan, however, is Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. If President Sirisena really spoke to the Pakistani Prime Minister over the fertilizer issue, he must have spoken to Abbasi. 

Gunawardena then asked a very important question on Twitter. 

"Does speaking to other heads of state to resolve burning issues at home come under the mandate of President Sirisena? Then why running 66 foreign diplomatic missions at a massive cost?"