<div><p>While the end of Sri Lanka's 37-year civil war has shaped this Tuesday's presidential election, celestial alignments and astrologers have exerted huge influence on the contest behind the scenes.</p><p>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.</p><p>Their forecasts are seen as more reliable than opinion polls in a country where many politicians have personal astrologers and births and weddings are seen as guided by planetary positions.</p><p>Even the national parliament inaugurates its sessions at astrologically favourable times and in one case a ruling president used air force helicopters to sprinkle blessed soil over key cities on the basis of a seer's advice.</p><p>"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."</p><p>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, ending their 37-year battle for a Tamil homeland.</p><p>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.</p><p>A source close to the ruling party said the government feared that Fonseka, who was also regarded as a national hero after the war, could pull off a coup given his powerful planetary position.</p><p>"It is no secret that the government was rattled after seeing General Fonseka's horoscope," a ruling party official told AFP on condition of anonymity.</p><p>Fonseka eventually quit as head of the armed forces in November and entered politics, accusing the government of suspecting him of a mutiny and sidelining him.</p><p>Rajapakse also went against the advice of some of his closest aides in deciding to call the election only four years into his six-year term.</p><p>Instead, he relied on several astrological predictions, says a senior official who declined to be named, choosing January 26 as the most auspicious date for a vote and following guidance on when to hand in his nomination papers.</p><p>The power of star-gazers was underscored in June when police arrested prominent astrologist Chandrasiri Bandara for predicting that the president faced a bleak period at a time when the administration appeared to be at the peak of its popularity.</p><p>Bandara's forecast came after the Tiger leadership was wiped out in May after nearly four decades of fighting that claimed between 80,000 and 100,000 lives, according to UN figures.</p><p>Bandara told AFP that Sri Lanka could still see unrest and political and economic turmoil until August 2012. He says the stars favour a Rajapakse win which the opposition has already said it will not accept. Related article: Sri Lanka president urges free and fair poll</p><p>"The planetary position from September (2009) to August 2012 is very bad for Sri Lanka," Bandara said. "I clearly see a period of turmoil. During this time President Rajapakse will be the head of state."</p><p>On Sunday, the opposition warned that the ruling regime was preparing a state-backed coup to keep Rajapakse in power if he loses in Tuesday's contest.</p><p>As for the final winner, other astrologers have backed both sides.</p><p>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.</p><p>"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.</p><p>But his peer J.A.S. Jayakody disagreed. He said the auspicious time at which Rajapakse presented his nomination papers favoured victory for him and not Fonseka.</p><p>"That time is very inauspicious for Fonseka and that is why he will lose," Jayakody wrote.</p><p>A weekly which wrongly predicted the winner at the December 2001 parliamentary election failed to foretell its own future -- enraged readers destroyed the paper and forced its closure.</p><p>Former president Ranasinghe Premadasa, of soil-sprilking fame, tried to use psychics to ward off an impeachment against him in 1991. He was then assassinated without warning in a suicide bombing in May 1993.</p><p>Even the Sri Lankan military is known to have launched offensives against Tamil Tigers at auspicious times decided by astrologers rather than military strategists.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67729137&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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