While the end of Sri Lanka’s 37-year civil war has shaped today’s presidential election, celestial alignments and astrologers have exerted huge influence on the contest behind the scenes.
The decision to call the snap poll, the exact date of voting and the emergence of opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka can all be traced to the star-gazers who hold enormous sway in political circles.
Their forecasts are seen as more reliable than opinion polls in a country where many politicians have personal astrologers and even the national parliament inaugurates its sessions at astrologically favorable times.
“I have not come across a single political family which did not consult astrologers,” said Nanda Godage, a former foreign secretary and a political commentator. “It is insecurity that makes them believe in astrology.”
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse is standing against his former army chief and close confidant Fonseka with whom he crushed the country’s Tamil Tiger rebels last year.
But the victory led to tensions after a Buddhist monk — and respected astrologer — predicted that Fonseka was going through a raaja yoga, or a sign of “great things” usually seen in the birth chart of a statesman.
A source close to the ruling party said the government feared Fonseka could pull off a coup given his powerful planetary position.
Rajapakse went against the advice of some of his closest aides in opting to call the election only four years into his six-year term. Instead, he relied on astrological predictions, said a senior official who declined to be named.
As for the final winner, other astrologers have backed both sides.
The mass-circulation Sunday Lankadeepa newspaper carried two forecasts by its soothsayers — one predicting the president’s re-election and the other firmly foretelling Fonseka’s victory.
“The current planetary position is similar to what we saw in 1994 when there was a change of government,” said astrologer K.A.U. Sarathchandra who insists that Fonseka will win.
But his peer J.A.S. Jayakody disagreed. He said the auspicious time at which Rajapakse presented his nomination papers favored victory for him.
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