Zürcher Nachrichten - Wheel of fortune turns for Sri Lanka's political soothsayers

EUR -
AED 4.266583
AFN 80.161056
ALL 97.181366
AMD 445.629458
ANG 2.079209
AOA 1065.338066
ARS 1534.975812
AUD 1.78289
AWG 2.091176
AZN 1.945523
BAM 1.951633
BBD 2.34675
BDT 141.208486
BGN 1.956299
BHD 0.437994
BIF 3427.204856
BMD 1.161764
BND 1.49335
BOB 8.059998
BRL 6.323597
BSD 1.162233
BTN 101.865999
BWP 15.638013
BYN 3.827426
BYR 22770.581416
BZD 2.334675
CAD 1.60062
CDF 3357.49949
CHF 0.943138
CLF 0.028702
CLP 1125.970752
CNY 8.351
CNH 8.357297
COP 4681.375951
CRC 587.752598
CUC 1.161764
CUP 30.786755
CVE 110.803245
CZK 24.466527
DJF 206.468292
DKK 7.463703
DOP 70.990252
DZD 151.247699
EGP 56.334767
ERN 17.426465
ETB 162.124444
FJD 2.620243
FKP 0.863871
GBP 0.864788
GEL 3.138844
GGP 0.863871
GHS 12.227618
GIP 0.863871
GMD 84.224723
GNF 10078.30591
GTQ 8.91719
GYD 243.107186
HKD 9.119624
HNL 30.484908
HRK 7.534505
HTG 152.196988
HUF 395.69171
IDR 18944.194327
ILS 3.967582
IMP 0.863871
INR 101.846014
IQD 1522.588231
IRR 48939.323295
ISK 143.013559
JEP 0.863871
JMD 186.082669
JOD 0.82363
JPY 172.187422
KES 150.479926
KGS 101.571083
KHR 4655.189617
KMF 492.733286
KPW 1045.587766
KRW 1616.583246
KWD 0.35522
KYD 0.968557
KZT 631.473397
LAK 25094.110315
LBP 104035.998191
LKR 349.548145
LRD 234.08792
LSL 20.632405
LTL 3.430388
LVL 0.70274
LYD 6.302561
MAD 10.525007
MDL 19.490886
MGA 5152.425313
MKD 61.549005
MMK 2438.86669
MNT 4174.994778
MOP 9.397776
MRU 46.357322
MUR 52.721146
MVR 17.889565
MWK 2017.407166
MXN 21.692003
MYR 4.926463
MZN 74.306856
NAD 20.633386
NGN 1782.729834
NIO 42.768679
NOK 11.874486
NPR 162.982099
NZD 1.955354
OMR 0.446697
PAB 1.162248
PEN 4.09987
PGK 4.818303
PHP 66.348778
PKR 329.94122
PLN 4.258016
PYG 8705.411884
QAR 4.229407
RON 5.064012
RSD 117.14302
RUB 92.364656
RWF 1677.587733
SAR 4.359833
SBD 9.562009
SCR 16.41692
SDG 697.623973
SEK 11.193022
SGD 1.49479
SHP 0.912964
SLE 26.894894
SLL 24361.62229
SOS 663.950539
SRD 43.461528
STD 24046.176617
STN 24.803669
SVC 10.16933
SYP 15104.994831
SZL 20.633637
THB 37.699201
TJS 10.826463
TMT 4.077793
TND 3.354304
TOP 2.720971
TRY 47.303094
TTD 7.88836
TWD 34.811106
TZS 2921.837313
UAH 48.194523
UGX 4141.157648
USD 1.161764
UYU 46.550603
UZS 14666.112874
VES 152.144916
VND 30476.564403
VUV 138.715999
WST 3.083226
XAF 654.576228
XAG 0.030816
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.139726
XCG 2.094699
XDR 0.813747
XOF 653.488198
XPF 119.331742
YER 279.142944
ZAR 20.624917
ZMK 10457.274964
ZMW 27.022997
ZWL 374.087649
  • RBGPF

    4.1600

    76

    +5.47%

  • CMSC

    0.0100

    23.06

    +0.04%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    14.34

    -0.07%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    15.96

    +0.5%

  • NGG

    0.2200

    71.23

    +0.31%

  • BCC

    -1.3500

    80.74

    -1.67%

  • GSK

    -0.0900

    37.71

    -0.24%

  • RIO

    0.2800

    62.14

    +0.45%

  • SCU

    0.0000

    12.72

    0%

  • RELX

    0.0400

    48.04

    +0.08%

  • BP

    -0.1900

    33.95

    -0.56%

  • BTI

    1.0900

    58.33

    +1.87%

  • CMSD

    -0.0090

    23.571

    -0.04%

  • VOD

    0.1500

    11.51

    +1.3%

  • JRI

    -0.0450

    13.39

    -0.34%

  • BCE

    0.0000

    24.35

    0%

  • AZN

    0.5350

    74.07

    +0.72%

Wheel of fortune turns for Sri Lanka's political soothsayers
Wheel of fortune turns for Sri Lanka's political soothsayers / Photo: Ishara S. KODIKARA - AFP

Wheel of fortune turns for Sri Lanka's political soothsayers

Generations of Sri Lankan leaders have sought guidance from seers and astrologers, and now one has dared tell the ruling Rajapaksa family that their time in office is up.

Text size:

As politicians find their homes besieged by large and resentful crowds, incensed over months of fuel shortages and lengthy blackouts, spiritual advisers have also found themselves under pressure.

Images of soothsayers standing alongside top administration figures have been shared on social media by activists calling on them to urge President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to stand down. One of the most prominent among them has already broken ranks with the government.

The long-time personal astrologer of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa -- the president's older brother -- this week said the economic crisis signalled the downfall of a clan that has dominated Sri Lanka's affairs for much of the past two decades.

"This is the end of the entire Rajapaksa family," Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena told AFP.

The fortune-teller's reputation took a hit in 2015 after he suggested Mahinda call an early election that the leader lost -- but his latest prediction is more emphatic.

"Even a grade two child knows today that the Rajapaksas are doomed," he said.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa -- Mahinda's younger brother -- and Sri Lanka's army chief are also known to have had a long association with a fortune-teller in the historic Buddhist centre of Anuradhapura.

Local media have reported the president makes regular pilgrimages to meet with Gnana Akka, and claimed she had a considerable role in shaping the government's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

A group of activists clashed with police this month as they attempted to storm a shrine belonging to the seer, who fled after officers tipped her off to the crowd's impending arrival.

Gnana Akka's influence also extended to several other top politicians, said newspaper columnist Kusal Perera, who quipped that the prophet's powers had apparently not granted her advance warning of the protest.

"How can Gnana Akka protect the president when she is unable to protect herself?" he said.

- Magic ritual -

Astrology is widely practised in Sri Lanka, and people commonly consult seers before building new homes, entering into contracts or scheduling weddings.

Political addresses to the nation and the inauguration of new parliament sessions are also usually held at auspicious times.

Former military commanders have even reported that timings of military actions in Sri Lanka's long civil war were decided by astrologers, who were also consulted to coin codenames for operations.

The Rajapaksa brothers are only the latest in a long tradition of Sri Lankan leaders balancing otherworldly advice with that of technocrats and civil servants.

Former president Ranasinghe Premadasa used a magic ritual to ward off his impending impeachment in 1991, according to a tell-all book by Vijaya Palliyaguruge, who at the time was the parliament's serjeant-at-arms, the officer maintaining order.

A sorcerer was tasked with juicing limes and spreading the liquids on the seats of lawmakers to ensure their support of the leader.

Premadasa survived the attempt to topple him but his reliance on the occult did not protect him from his assassination two years later in a suicide bomb attack by a member of the Tamil Tigers separatist movement.

- 'Way of redemption' -

The political elite's consultation of shamans and seers is not a phenomenon unique to Sri Lanka.

The diminutive mystic "ET" -- a moniker apparently inspired by her resemblance to the eponymous Steven Spielberg character -- advised members of Myanmar's military, who were rumoured to have relocated the country's capital in 2005 based on astrological guidance.

Former US First Lady Nancy Reagan was also known to consult an astrologer to plan her husband's schedule while he served in the White House.

But even with Sri Lanka seething over mismanagement of the economic crisis and allegations of graft, human rights activist and former newspaper editor Victor Ivan said the government was unlikely to abandon its faith in supernatural guidance.

"The leaders know that they have done a lot of wrong," he told AFP.

"Shamans and sorcerers provide them a way of redemption -- that is why these people are held in such veneration by our politicians."

O.Krasniqi--NZN