Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena

Last updated

Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena
Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena 003.jpg
Born(1953-06-28)28 June 1953
Deniyaya, Sri Lanka
NationalitySri Lankan
Alma materMorawaka Central College
Occupation Astrologer
Known forDefeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa
Opponents
SpouseMeepage Chandra Girlie
Children
  • Hansini Ruvanthika,
  • Thilanka Sandamalie
Website Official Website

'Sumanadasa Tilak Abeygunawardena (known as Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena) is a Sri Lankan astrologer, author and commentator on radio and television news. He also served as the working Director for the National Savings Bank. [1]

Contents

Astrological career

Abeygunawardena was the self-proclaimed "Royal Astrologer" [2] to the former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, [3] and his main work was identifying auspicious timing for the president's political acts. [4] Before calling presidential elections two years ahead of schedule, Rajapaksa consulted Abeygunawardena, who foresaw a "big victory" [5] not just for a third but also a fourth term in office due to Rajapaksa's "great inborn power". [6] However, Rajapaksa lost the election to his main opponent Maithripala Sirisena. Abeygunawardena initially declined to comment on this wrong prediction [7] and avoided the media, but later said that "even Nostradamus got things wrong." [8]

Personal life

He was born on 28 June 1953 to a family in Deniyaya Matara District. He is the seventh son of Don Siyadoris Abeygunawardena and Jasin Korale Arachchige Somawathie. Don Siyadoris Abeygunawardena was a village committee Chairman of Morawaka. Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena has three elder sisters, three elder brothers & another two sisters younger to him. He was educated at Morawaka Central College in Deniyaya.

Mr.Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena's Family Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena's Family(4).jpg
Mr.Sumanadasa Abeygunawardena's Family

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranil Wickremesinghe</span> President of Sri Lanka since 2022

Ranil Wickremesinghe is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2022. He also holds the position of Minister of Finance of Sri Lanka. He has been the leader of the centre-right United National Party since 1994. He served as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in five separate stints, leading six governments, from 1993 to 1994, 2001 to 2004, 2015 to 2018, 2018 to 2019, and in 2022. He also served as Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 2001 and from 2004 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahinda Rajapaksa</span> President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015

Mahinda Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015; the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2004 to 2005, 2018, and 2019 to 2022; the Leader of the Opposition from 2002 to 2004 and 2018 to 2019, and the Minister of Finance from 2005 to 2015 and 2019 to 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Kurunegala since 2015.

The United People's Freedom Alliance was a political alliance in Sri Lanka founded by former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga in 2004 and dissolved by former Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United National Front (Sri Lanka)</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The United National Front (UNF) later the United National Front for Good Governance (UNFGG) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka formed by the United National Party, the alliance once represented 7 parties including the largest Muslim party Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and the Sinhala Nationalist Jathika Hela Urumaya. The UNF is former governing party in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. A new UNP led alliance, the National Democratic Front (NDF) is in the process of being formed for future elections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gotabaya Rajapaksa</span> President of Sri Lanka from 2019 to 2022

Lieutenant Colonel Nandasena Gotabaya Rajapaksa is a former Sri Lankan military officer and politician, who served as the eighth President of Sri Lanka from 18 November 2019 until his resignation on 14 July 2022. He previously served as Secretary to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development from 2005 to 2015 under the administration of his elder brother former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, during the final phase of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lasantha Wickrematunge</span> Sri Lankan journalist (1958–2009)

Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, broadcaster and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maithripala Sirisena</span> President of Sri Lanka from 2015 to 2019

Maithripala Yapa Sirisena is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the seventh President of Sri Lanka from 9 January 2015 to 18 November 2019. Sirisena is Sri Lanka's first president from the North Central Province of the country and does not belong to the traditional Sri Lankan political elite. He is currently a member of parliament from Polonnaruwa.

The Rajapaksa family is a Sri Lankan family that is prominent in politics. It was one of Sri Lanka's most powerful families during Mahinda Rajapaksa's presidency, when many members of the family occupied senior positions in the Sri Lankan state. As their political power grew, there were reports suggesting that the country was heading towards autocracy under their rule. Following the unexpected defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, they have been accused of authoritarianism, corruption, nepotism and bad governance. In the 2019 presidential election, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa, ran and won. The popularity of the Rajapaksa family collapsed after their actions caused the economic crisis that started in 2019, resulting in Sri Lanka defaulting on its debt for the first time in its post-independence history within just 30 months of coming to power. The extended Rajapaksa family is believed to have amassed a large amount of wealth and while the amount of and scale is unknown several members of the family have been revealed in international investigations such as the Pandora Papers to be using networks of shell companies and trusts to hide their wealth in offshore tax havens which has led to accusations of Rajapaksas turning Sri Lanka into a Kleptocracy

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport</span> International airport located in Sri Lanka

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) is an international airport serving southeast Sri Lanka. It is located in the town of Mattala, 18 km (11 mi) from Hambantota. It is the first greenfield airport and the third international airport in the country, after Ratmalana International Airport and Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Sri Lankan presidential election</span> Election

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 January 2015, two years ahead of schedule. The incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa was the United People's Freedom Alliance's candidate, seeking a third term in office. The United National Party (UNP)-led opposition coalition chose to field Maithripala Sirisena, the former Minister of Health in Rajapaksa's government and general secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) – the main constituent party of the UPFA – as its common candidate.

Lieutenant Commander Yoshitha Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan sportsman and former naval officer. He is the son of the sixth president of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa and served as the Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Sri Lankan parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Sri Lanka on 17 August 2015, ten months ahead of schedule, to elect 225 members to Sri Lanka's 15th Parliament.

The 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka was the meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka with its membership determined by the results of the 2015 parliamentary election, held on 17 August 2015. The parliament met for the first time on 1 September 2015 and was dissolved on 3 March 2020. According to the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the maximum legislative term of the parliament is 5 years from the first meeting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna</span> Political party in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka People's Front, commonly known by its Sinhalese name Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), is a political party in Sri Lanka. Previously a minor political party known as the Sri Lanka National Front (SLNF) and Our Sri Lanka Freedom Front (OSLFF), it was relaunched in 2016 as the SLPP and became the home for members of the United People's Freedom Alliance loyal to its former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis</span>

A constitutional crisis began in Sri Lanka when President Maithripala Sirisena appointed former president and member of parliament Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister on 26 October 2018 before formally dismissing the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe, resulting in two concurrent Prime Ministers. Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) viewed the appointment as illegal, and he refused to resign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Sri Lankan presidential election</span> Election

Presidential elections were held in Sri Lanka on 16 November 2019. The incumbent President Maithripala Sirisena's term of office would have ended on 9 January 2020. This was the first Presidential election in Sri Lanka where no sitting president, prime minister or opposition leader was contesting for president. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won this election defeating Sajith Premadasa.

In 2015 a coup d'état was allegedly attempted in Sri Lanka by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa in order to remain in power after he had been voted out in the 2015 Sri Lankan presidential election. Rajapaksa, who was expected to easily win a third term in office lost to Maithripala Sirisena, a former ally and member of the Rajapaksa administration. Though ultimately there was a peaceful transition between governments, some government officials claim Rajapaksa made an attempt to deploy the army and police to stop the counting of votes when initial results showed he was heading for defeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sumanadasa Abeywickrama</span> Sri Lankan politician

Sumanadasa Abeywickrama was a Sri Lankan politician and a Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keerthisena Abeywickrama</span>

Keerthisena Chandradasa Abeywickrama was a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the parliament.

Nipuna Ranawaka is a Sri Lankan businessman, politician and Member of Parliament.

References

  1. Sirimanna, Bandula (20 May 2012). "Astrologer-director quits, but NSB chairman defiant". Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. Barry, Ellen (6 January 2015). "As Vote Nears, Astrologer for Sri Lanka's President Faces Ultimate Test of His Skills". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  3. "A fault in his stars?". The Economist. 24 November 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  4. Barry, Ellen (8 January 2015). "Mahinda Rajapaksa's astrologer Abeygunawardena faces the ultimate test". The Economic Times. The Economic Times. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  5. Perera, Amantha (7 January 2015). "Ahead of Sri Lanka election, president in unexpectedly tight race". Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  6. Kumar, Nikhil (9 January 2015). "Sri Lanka Looks to Chart a New Course After Ousting Mahinda Rajapaksa". Time. Time. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  7. Wijeyesinghe, Chathushika (9 January 2015). ""Yanna Nona Yanna" - MR's astrologer". Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka. Daily Mirror, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  8. "'Even Nostradamus got things wrong', says astrologer who advised Sri Lanka's president to call election". The Guardian. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2015.