Sri Lankans today vote in the first parliamentary election since the end of a quarter-century war last year in a poll likely to further entrench President Mahinda Rajapaksa's political dominance.
Nearly 80,000 police and soldiers have been deployed across the Indian Ocean island to guard polling stations, where voters will decide who from among 7,620 candidates will serve in the 225-member parliament.
Mr Rajapaksa has already parlayed last May's victory over the Tamil Tiger separatists into a new six-year term, and is now banking on a resurgent economy and political momentum to give his United People Freedom Alliance (UPFA) a legislative majority.
More than 14 million people were registered to vote at polling stations, and campaigning has been calm by Sri Lankan standards, with one death and 340 violent acts reported.
The end of the electoral uncertainty is expected to bring some stability to Sri Lanka's post-war landscape, and give way to a clearer picture of what Mr Rajapaksa plans to do with a $42 billion economy billed as an upcoming frontier market. Mr Rajapaksa's alliance has positioned itself as the shepherd of island-wide development and an economic revival.
The central bank this week reported GDP growth of 3.5 per cent last year, and forecast 6.5 per cent this year.
One national issue that has taken a subordinate role in campaigns has been ethnic reconciliation. The war deeply divided the Tamil minority and the Sinhalese majority from which Mr Rajapaksa hails, like all of the country's leaders since independence from Britain in 1948.
Tamil parties have been able to campaign unhindered for the first time since the end of the war, now that the Tigers are no longer there to dictate who runs.
Reuters