In a farcical turn of events, Western Province Chief Minister Isura Devapriya has put up a hoarding praising President Maithripala Sirisena for being appointed as the new Chair of BIMSTEC 

The top post of BIMSTEC is rotated among its member nations and it was the basis on which Sirisena was appointed the head of the organisation.

Accordingly, the next BIMSTEC summit will take place in Colombo with the Sri Lankan President as the Chair. 

Devapriya's hoarding, however, indicates that Sirisena was handpicked for the post due to his political acumen and statesmanship. Therefore, the hoarding has come under severe criticism on social media platforms. 

Sirisena, when he ran for presidency, vehemently stated that he would not allow wasteful expenses. During his presidential election campaign, Sirisena asked all his supporters to refrain from putting up cutouts or hoardings, and divert that money to set up a fund for kidney patients. 

Devapriya recently ran into a controversy when he ordered chairs spending Rs. 640000 each for councilors of the province.