Polls opened for the historic presidential elections in Sri Lanka at 7:00 a.m. this morning amid heavy security. The polls will close at 4:00 p.m.
This is the first presidential election held after winning the war against LTTE terrorism. Over 14 million voters are eligible to vote at 11,098 polling centers island wide.
The main race is between the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former military chief General Sarath Fonseka representing the common opposition although there were total of 22 candidates who presented nominations in December. The President is seeking a fresh mandate two years ahead of his first six-year term to be expired in 2012.
The violence-marred campaign for the election that resulted in five deaths, ended last Saturday. The government has appointed 68,000 police personnel in addition to the security forces to maintain security.
The government has pledged to conduct a free and fair poll and appealed the public to abide by the law and order and to vote peacefully.
Viplav Communications (P) Ltd., A New Delhi-based firm specializing in political surveys predicts President Rajapaksa to win the election by a narrow, 2-3 percent margin.
The firm, which conducted a comprehensive survey earlier this month, said the President has a 12 percent overall margin except in the Tamil dominated North and the East.
source:ColomboPage