Voting began at 7am on Thursday amid apprehensions of violence as a large number of people queued up at polling stations across the country. The turnout was heavy in Sri Lanka's Tamil heartland, the Northern Province, as incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa faced his toughest electoral challenge.
Stating that the election was largely peaceful, chief election commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya told reporters that the final results would be declared Friday evening. He said the election department received 328 complaints but both the opposition and the government were satisfied with the overall conduct of poll.
He denied claims that ballot boxes had been switched at some locations after the election was over and said the boxes were being transported to the counting centres. "Though there were concerns of violence and malpractices, we were able to conclude the voting without any major incident. I hope the counting also would be concluded smoothly" Deshapriya told TOI.
Rajapaksa, who is seeking a mandate for an unprecedented third term, is facing tough competition from New Democratic Front (NDF) candidate Maithripala Sirisena. There are 17 other candidates in the fray with more than 1.55 crore Sri Lankans eligible to cast votes. It was significant that a large number of young and first time voters turned up at booths. While the President and his family cast their votes in their native Hambantota district, Sirisena and his family members voted in their home town of Polonnaruwa.
The voter turnout in Sirisena's native district was nearing 80%, officials said. Former PM Ranil Wikramasinghe and Northern Provincial chief minister C V Wigneswaran cast their votes in Colombo.
Indicating growing disgruntlement against the Rajapaksa government, Chathura Senarathna, a university student and first time voter said, "We are fed up with the slow economy, corruption and dynastic politics". A buoyant Wikramasinghe told TOI, "The large turnout in the morning means that the trend is favourable to us. Maithripala will form the government". Former Sri Lanka's ambassador to France and former representative to the UN in Geneva, Dayan Jayatilleka was of the view that Rajapaksa could be re-elected with a lower margin. While Sirisena's candidature and the united opposition had created a level playing field, voters may not favour him, said Jayatilleka.
http://ift.tt/1iVBUxo Lanka,Mahinda Rajapaksa,Colombo,C V Wigneswara
Stay updated on the go with The Times of India’s mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.
0 comments:
Post a Comment