Amid growing scrutiny over the politicization of religious spaces, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is now being accused of employing a time-tested but controversial electoral strategy: temple politics. According to Professor Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, the president is leaning heavily on Buddhist religious imagery and temple-centered engagement to secure the support of Sri Lanka’s elderly voter base—a demographic with significant influence in the upcoming elections.
Dewasiri, a well-known political analyst and academic, drew parallels between Dissanayake’s recent temple visits and the strategy once successfully used by former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who famously embedded himself within religious circles to project moral authority and earn trust from the public. “Temple politics helped the Rajapaksas build cultural hegemony,” Dewasiri said, “but it ultimately fell apart under the weight of poor governance and corruption.”
With Sri Lanka’s population rapidly aging, Dewasiri points out that elderly voters are more inclined toward leaders who promote traditional Buddhist values, including meditation, spiritual discipline, and public alignment with the Sangha. “It’s a constituency deeply invested in religiosity. Any politician hoping to win their vote must engage them in their own language—and that language is often spoken in temples,” he said.
However, this approach raises critical concerns about the instrumentalization of religion for political gain. Dewasiri warns that while such strategies may yield short-term success, they risk long-term damage to public trust, particularly among younger generations who are increasingly skeptical of symbolism over substance.
Although President Dissanayake’s team has not commented directly on the allegations, his increasing appearances at high-profile religious events—including recent engagements in Kandy and Polonnaruwa—suggest a deliberate emphasis on cultivating religious legitimacy during a politically volatile time.
As the country prepares for a crucial round of local government elections, Dewasiri says the question is no longer whether temple politics works, but whether voters will continue to accept it. “Sri Lanka has seen this play before. The question is—will the audience applaud it again?”
The Election Commission, meanwhile, is under pressure to monitor and regulate the use of religious spaces in political campaigning, particularly in the lead-up to May’s polls. Whether Dissanayake’s temple-centered strategy yields the same dividends as it did for the Rajapaksas remains to be seen—but in a country where faith and politics are deeply intertwined, it may once again prove decisive.
