By Mahinda Rajapaksha was shocked when he came to know that Dhammika Perera, would not be contesting the coming presidential election due to ‘personal reasons’.
The billionaire businessman was wineing and dineing with the Rajapaksha’s until a few days ago and the family believed that he would lavishly sponsor the campaign.
Dhammika Perera, always said that he was ready to contest the presidential election if his party (the SLPP) decided to field him.
Many were quick to find out what these personal reasons that prompted the pull out of Dhamika Perera .
Many have been guessing and here is the guess of the Sunday Times political columnist:
Dhamika Perera is known to be a firm believer in Feng Shui which some regard as a superstitious practice. The website Britannica says “Feng Shui gained new prominence in the West after US President Richard Nixon’s visit to China in 1972. In the 1980s, Feng Shui master Thomas Lin Yun Rinpoche founded the influential Black Hat Sect Tantric Buddhist (BTB) style of Feng Shui in Berkeley, California. This form of Feng Shui became widely popular in the West. The BTB method uses a bagua chart that shows correspondences between cardinal directions and aspects of life, including wealth and prosperity, fame and recognition, love and relationships, family, health, creativity and children, knowledge and self-cultivation, career, and travel and helpful people.” Perera is a firm believer in time and other formalities. It also explains why he always sports only a maroon tie. Bad news for him last week was the sudden illness of a close family member who had to be hospitalised.
Possible Embarrassment
Perera was also privy to a major political campaign that was being planned against him. The target was his business empire, particularly his casino operation. By withdrawing from the candidature, he has said, he wanted to save possible embarrassment and inconvenience that would be caused to hundreds of his employees. On the other hand, “research” work done by rival groups had unearthed details that could mar not only his campaign but cause damage to the SLPP’s image. How ever there is no guarantee that the information unearthed by his opponents will remain secret for ever. How ever it is very likely that Dhamika Perara will take a back seat in Srilankan politics for the moment.
