SRI LANKA voted yesterday to elect a new parliament that is expected to deliver victory to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s party and help him consolidate his political dominance after he was re-elected in January.
With the opposition in disarray and its defeated presidential candidate, former army chief Sarath Fonseka, facing a court martial, Mr Rajapaksa’s United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) is expected to secure a two-thirds majority. This would arm him with powers to amend the constitution that currently limits the president’s tenure to two terms. The UPFA-led federal coalition has 128 seats in the outgoing 225-member parliament.
“I want a very strong parliament to develop the country,” Mr Rajapaksa said while casting his ballot in a southern constituency where his son, Namal, was the UPFA candidate.
The president’s two brothers are also contesting the election, initial results for which are expected by midday today.
This is the first parliamentary election in which the majority of 14 million Sri Lankans eligible to vote could participate without fear of Tamil Tiger violence and suicide attacks. The separatist rebels were defeated last year, ending almost three decades of civil war that claimed more than 65,000 lives.
Independent election monitors reported 160 incidents of poll-related violence during the first four hours of balloting, but the majority were incidental.
Close to 80,000 security personnel, 20,000 of them from the army were deployed across the country to prevent violence.
Mr Rajapaksa called the election two months early after his resounding victory in a presidential vote in January, which he followed up with the arrest of his rival, retired general Sarath Fonseka, who commanded the Sri Lankan army that defeated the Tamil Tigers.
Gen Fonseka stands accused of corruption and unlawfully planning his political career before giving up his army post.