The Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo has allegedly become the ‘unofficial headquarters’ of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s Presidential election campaign, Tamil news outlet Nilavaram has reported.
According to reports, a number of events linked to the campaign including seminars of ‘Viyathmaga’ organisation that is aligned with the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) as well as other election propaganda meetings are being held at the venue. Sajad Mawzoon, a leading businessman and a member of the Shangri-La’s Board of Directors is said to be actively leading the arrangements for the Pro-Rajapaksa events.
He is said to have taken steps to reserve the luxury suites located on the 45th floor of the hotel for propaganda purposes according to a reliable source at the hotel. It is also reported that nearly Rs. 600 Million have been collected for campaign funds from leading Muslim businessmen in the country including from Maliban Textiles and Brandix Lanka.
Meanwhile, Governor of the Western Province, A.J.M Muzammil is also said to actively collecting campaign funds on behalf of Gotabaya Rajapaksa from both Sinhalese and Muslim businessmen known to him.
But while working closely with the Rajapaksa campaign, Mawzoon also continues to keep ties with Minister of Finance Mangala Samaraweera, who is currently leading the election campaign of Rajapaksa’s main opponent, Sajith Premadasa.
While Premadasa recently met with over 1500 lawyers on the campaign trail, the dinner following the event was sponsored by Mawzoon.
It is also reported that Chairman of Brandix Lanka Ashroff Omar has commenced his own mudslinging campaign against the New Democratic Front (NDF) candidate Sajith Premadasa while extending his support to Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This propaganda campaign is being launched at yet another star class hotel in Colombo according to reliable reports.
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