{"id":148653,"date":"2015-08-09T15:07:56","date_gmt":"2015-08-09T09:37:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=148653"},"modified":"2015-08-09T17:08:12","modified_gmt":"2015-08-09T11:38:12","slug":"rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/","title":{"rendered":"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a> who lost his Presidency on January 08 polls, after calling Elections two years ahead of schedule on the instructions of his personal astrologer today said that he \u201cno longer believed in astrology\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Rajapaksas'<\/a>

Rajapaksas’ astrologer Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena with Rajapaksas<\/p><\/div>\n

During a hurriedly arranged United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA) press briefing at Hotel Jaic Hilton in Colombo today Rajapaksa said he didn\u2019t believe in astrology anymore.<\/p>\n

When a Journalist asked, do you still believe in astrology?\u201d Rajapaksa said \u201cNow, I don\u2019t,\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa who is known as a leader who strongly believes in astrological predictions said he now believes more in himself.<\/p>\n

Rajapaksa\u2019s personal astrologer Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena had been sacked by the former President after his election defeat on January 08.<\/p>\n

Abeygunewardena who was silent for some time after the defeat of his client later had told foreign media \u201cNot all of Nostradamus\u2019 predictions have come true either,\u201d while reflecting both on the fate of his vanquished boss and his own reputation as a seer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was only so much I could do to help him win, maybe 5%. But you must have luck to be the president.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his increasingly authoritarian rule, former president Rajapaksa became reliant on his astrologer\u2019s counsel and timed the announcement of the snap presidential election after consulting Abeygunawardena with a further two years remaining in his second term.<\/p>\n

In a later move to justify his wrong prediction Abeygunewardena had said that the Rajapaksa\u2019s opponent\u2019s horoscope was more powerful than that of his client.<\/p>\n

The former President Rajapaksa is on a comeback bid after being defeated on January 08. Rajapaksa now believes he can be the Prime Minister after his party, the UPFA triumph\u2019s at the August 17 parliamentary polls.<\/p>\n

A former UPFA Minister and a close ally of Rajapaksa, prof. Tissa Vitarana recently had said at an election rally that under a future UPFA government the constitution will be amended to totally abolish the executive Presidency.<\/p>\n

In such a situation Rajapaksa who did away with the two-term Presidency clause by introducing the 18th amendment to the constitution to contest for a third term in office could once again realise his dream of becoming the leader as the Prime Minister of the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":3534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1,6980,2375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-148653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-news","category-sri-lanka-parliamentary-elections-2015","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\nRajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-08-09T09:37:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-08-09T11:38:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"390\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/\",\"name\":\"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-08-09T09:37:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-08-09T11:38:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg\",\"width\":\"550\",\"height\":\"390\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2015-08-09T09:37:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-08-09T11:38:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":550,"height":390,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/","name":"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg","datePublished":"2015-08-09T09:37:56+00:00","dateModified":"2015-08-09T11:38:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg","width":"550","height":"390"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/rajapaksa-says-he-no-longer-believes-in-astrology\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rajapaksa Says He No Longer Believes In Astrology"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/mahinda-r-colombotelegraph.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148653"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148659,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148653\/revisions\/148659"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}