A tug of war has erupted between Speaker Karu Jayasuriya and the Mawbima newspaper over a news term published in the newspaper.

The newspaper recently reported that Speaker Karu Jayasuriya had attempted to influence members of the National Police Commission.

Issuing a statement on the news report, Speaker Jayasuriya said "every word in the news report" was false.

However, the newspaper company has written to Speaker Jayasuriya saying that although they attempted to get a response from the Speaker's office, their attempts proved to be futile.

The newspaper had further added that the Speaker's office acted in an irresponsible manner pertaining to the news report.

The company also says that multiple sources they contacted prior to publishing the news report confirmed the story.