Winds of change: A room akin to those in China and N. Korea

Only a few can remember how President Gotabaya Rajapaksa asked his supporters ahead of the Presidential elections in 2019, not to showcase his images through banners and posters on the roads. If one is to enter into the main hallway of the current Rs. 53.3 billion Defence complex in Battaramulla, you will find victory images hung on the walls making up a mini-war museum. On top of that is a large portrait of President Rajapaksa. The plaque under the portrait reads:

"His Excellency Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 7th President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. "The Visionary, idealist and mastermind behind the creation of Defence Headquarters Complex."

One journalist who was at the complex to cover recent high profile engagements told his colleague that he had seen similarly decorated rooms in his visit to China and the North Korea.