by Rajan Philips-December 27, 2014,
It was intended to be an astrologically choreographed presidential coronation,but it is turning out to be anything but, even as astrology is finally being put in its place by political uncertainty and a meteorological disaster. The unprecedented Christmas-New Year holiday season election, with an impending Papal visit to follow, is now being literally inundated by the country’s heaviest rainfall and the worst floods since 1957. Although the rains seem to be subsiding after the non-stop Christmas day pour, several districts in the Eastern, North Central, Central and Uva Provinces are still threatened by floods and/or landslides due to overflowing rivers, overrun dams, and unstable land forms. There have been calls for the postponement of the election, and weather conditions during the next few days will determine whether postponement would be necessary. One would only hope that the decision will be made independently by the Election Commissioner based solely on humanitarian and logistical considerations, and that he will not be influenced by political calculations based on astrological prescriptions.
