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Sri Lanka's parliamentary polls end peacefully with over 60 pct voter turnout

Xinhua, August 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Over 60 percent voters turned up to cast their votes at Sri Lanka's parliamentary elections on Monday which will look to elect a new prime minister and form a new government in the island nation.

Local election monitors said that the polls ended peacefully at 4:00 p.m. local time and voter turnout was higher compared with previous elections.

"It is a good sign to see the people enthusiastically casting their votes to elect the members of the new parliament. The situation at election centers has so far been smooth," Campaign for Free and Fair Elections (CaFFE) Executive Director Ranjith Keerthi Tennakoon told a local media.

The Department of Elections announced that voters had turned out in large numbers in most of the 22 districts in the country and only a few minor incidents had been reported from some areas related to the violation of election laws.

The majority in parliament is expected to be produced between the newly formed coalition, the United National Front (UNF) led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the opposition United People's Freedom Alliance whose election campaign was led by former President Mahinda Rajapakse.

Rajapakse is contesting the polls from the north western province of Kurunegala and is looking to make a comeback by being the country's new prime minister after his defeat in presidential election in January.

Both leaders expressed confidence of winning Monday's polls as they arrived at their respective polling stations to cast their votes.

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena in a statement earlier on Monday urged the voters to elect suitable members to its 225-member parliament. "Electing suitable persons to parliament at the upcoming elections is a responsibility of all the voters of this country," he said.

Around 196 members are expected to be elected through the country's parliamentary elections while 29 will be selected from the national lists of the respective political parties.

Final election results are expected to be announced by Tuesday afternoon. Endi