The Hindu : International : Close contest seen as Sri Lanka goes to the polls

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Thursday, Nov 17, 2005

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International

Close contest seen as Sri Lanka goes to the polls

V.S. Sambandan

Special arrangements made for voters from areas held by LTTE

— PHOTO: Sriyantha Walpola

POLL SET: Ballot boxes being transported from a centre to other polling stations in Colombo on Wednesday.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is all set for the fifth presidential election to be held on Thursday. Voting will be held in 10,486 polling stations, covering 22 electoral districts.

Thirteen candidates are in the electoral contest for the highest political office, but the main competition is between Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse (United Peoples' Freedom Alliance) and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe (United National Party). Political observers see a close contest, with the electoral pendulum swinging from one main candidate to the other over the past few weeks.

Special arrangements have been made to enable voters from areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to exercise their franchise at cluster polling booths located in Government-controlled territories.

Commissioner of Elections Dayananda Dissanayake said on Monday he expected an 80 per cent turnout. However, turnout is not clear in the Tamil majority northern and eastern districts following the "disinterest" shown by the LTTE and a virtual boycott called by its front organisations.

"I am not an astrologer," said the Commissioner of Elections when asked about the impact of the LTTE's position. Sri Lanka has 13,327,160 voters, a majority of whom are Sinhalese. Colombo is the largest electoral district with 1.4 million voters, comprising 11.02 per cent of the electorate. Trincomalee, with 2.3 lakh voters (1.79 per cent) is the smallest electoral district.

Among the Tamil-majority northern and eastern districts, Jaffna has 7 lakh registered voters. However, according to the Commissioner of Elections, the actual number of voters residing in Jaffna is much less. At the last poll, there were 2.5 lakh voters from Jaffna, he said. The Vanni district with 2.5 lakh voters, Batticaloa (3.2 lakhs), Amparai (3.96 lakhs) and Trincomalee are the other electoral districts in the north-east.

Early on Wednesday, police erected barricades near polling stations and counting centres as security was strengthened across the island.

The security forces are on stand-by. The campaign, which concluded on Monday, was by far the most peaceful in recent times.

The total cost of the elections is estimated to be around Rs. 930 million, which was spent for last year's Parliamentary poll also. "Each vote will cost Rs. 75 to cast," said the Commissioner of Elections.

The Sri Lankan President is elected through a preferential vote. Each voter can cast his vote either for just one candidate or mark his preferences for three candidates.

To win the poll, a candidate would have to cross 50 per cent of the valid votes cast.

Otherwise, a second count is held in which the second preference votes marked in favour of the two leading candidates is taken into account. The process is repeated for a third count.

According to the Presidential Elections Act, in the event of a tie, the victor is determined by draw of lot. However, all previous elections have been declared elected after the first count.

Counting of votes is scheduled to start in 710 counting stations across the island after polls close on Thursday evening.

The final result is expected by Friday morning.

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