Lanka's general election sees high voter turnout, Rajapaksa clan expected to win

Colombo: Sri Lankans, wearing face masks and carrying their own pens, turned out in large numbers to vote on Wednesday in the twice-postponed parliamentary election which is expected to be won by the powerful Rajapaksa family-run Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP).

According to Chairman of the National Election Commission Mahinda Deshapriya, the election, conducted amidst COVID-19 pandemic fears, concluded in a peaceful manner, with the voter turnout being 70 per cent.

Ampara (72.8 per cent), Killinochchi (71.52 per cent), Mannar (79.49 per cent ), Vavuniya (74 per cent), Mullaithivu (76.25 per cent), Trincomalee (73.5 per cent), Batticaloa (76.15 per cent) and Nuwara Eliya (75 per cent) recorded high voter turnout.

The polls closed at 5 pm local time and the ballot boxes were transported to counting centers. The counting would take place only on Thursday - a departure from the practice of counting the ballots from 8 PM on the election night.

The results would be announced by Thursday evening, Deshapriya said.

"We have to be grateful to the voting public for recording such a high turnout despite corona fears," he said.

He said considering that the election was delayed by more than three months and various conflicts among some political groups, the voters should be praised for turning up in large numbers and recording a 70 per cent turn out. Long queues of voters were seen at polling centres in some districts from the time polling began at 7 am.

The election monitoring groups said despite a few complaints of illegal activities by certain groups the election was held peacefully.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa voted in his Colombo suburb polling station while his brother and the prime ministerial aspirant Mahinda Rajapaksa voted in his home constituency in the southern district of Hambantota.