Two former allies who led Sri Lanka to victory in a 25-year civil war duelled at the ballot box today after a bitter, personal campaign for the country's first peacetime presidential vote in nearly three decades.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and General Sarath Fonseka are the rivals in a close contest in which the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May has figured heavily in campaigning, with both claiming credit.
Mr Rajapaksa as commander-in-chief and Gen Fonseka as the army commander stood side-by-side after the historic victory in May, but within months split over what the general said was his sidelining by the president and false coup plot accusations.
More than 14 million people registered to vote and election monitors said overall turnout was strong at between 70 and 80 per cent.
Heavy security included more than 68,000 police officers and fears voting day would be bloody did not materialise.
Gen Fonseka himself was not among the registered voters, although the Election Commission said that did not affect his eligibility.
Gen Fonseka initially told reporters he "may have voted" but didn't want to say if he had "due to security reasons".
He later called a second media conference and acknowledged his name was not on voter rolls despite registering in 2008.
Counting, starting with postal ballots, began today, with the final result expected by midday tomorrow.
Whoever wins will take the reins of a $40 billion (€28 billion) economy still waiting the full peace dividend, despite large Indian and Chinese investments into infrastructure and about $1.5 billion in foreign investment into government securities.
Major investors have mostly shied away, saying Sri Lanka must first rein in government spending, which would in turn boost confidence in the rupee currency.
Both Mr Rajapaksa and Gen Fonseka have pledged to dole out costly subsidies and public sector pay rises, which economists say will make it hard for Sri Lanka to meet its cost-cutting obligations under a $2.6 billion International Monetary Fund loan.
Campaigning had been bloody, with more than 800 violent incidents recorded, among which five people were killed.
However polling was smooth, election observers said, despite minor blasts before polls opened in the northern city of Jaffna, the cultural centre of Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic minority, a petrol bomb attack and other minor incidents.
There were no casualties.
The blasts may have triggered low turnout in the former war zone, with less than 20 per cent voting in the Northern Province, where Jaffna is located. Around 50 per cent voted in the Eastern Province.
Both sides traded blame for the blasts, with Gen Fonseka's camp saying they were aimed at deterring his backers.
Mr Rajapaksa's camp accused the opposition of trying to discredit the president.
A motley coalition of opposition parties with divergent ideologies have united to support Gen Fonseka with the sole aim of defeating the incumbent, who called the vote two years early hoping to capitalise on what then seemed unbeatable post-war popularity.
A handful of international observers and 250,000 election officials have spread out across the Indian Ocean island, which for the first time in nearly three decades votes without the fear of suicide blasts or attacks by the Tamil Tiger separatists.
Reuters