The Secretary to the President P.B. Abeykoon today claimed that there was no official song released for the first year anniversary of President Maithripala Sirisena's presidency.

According to a statement released by the President's Media Division, Abeykoon said that the song titled “Nuba Ape Minisek” had falsely claimed that it was the President’s Official Song for 2016.

He added that the song has been played by some social networking websites without the permission of the President as well as the Presidential Secretariat.

However, an article was published on today's Daily Mirror on the launch of the song. This article claimed that the song was officially launched by the President on January 7.

Therefore, the statement from the President's Secretary stands contradictory to the article published today.

The anniversary song came under severe criticism in social media platforms for featuring several kings from the Polonnaruwa era including Parakramabahu the Great, thereby drawing parallels with them and the President.

The song also offers blessings to President Sirisena to "rule the land forever", in stark violation of basic tenets of democracy and good governance.

The song has been produced by two individuals, namely Imran Cader and Dr. Arosha Fernando. The latter uploaded it on his his Youtube channel, only to remove it several hours later.