Sri Lankans begin voting for new government

Sri Lankans are voting today to elect a new parliament.

In some quarters, the elections are being viewed as a comeback bid by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and as assessment of the reformist Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)-United National Party (UNP) alliance cobbled up by his successor President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe, which had swept Rajapaksa from power in January this year.

Historically, campaigning in Sri Lanka, which has a population of over 20 million people, has been overshadowed by personal and political feuding, and often ended up in violence and even the assassination of its leaders.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe was expected to cast his vote at the University College polling station.

Reports said that minority Tamils and Muslims are backing the centre-right coalition led by Wickremesinghe's UNP, which poll pundits say has the best chance of forming the largest bloc in the 225-seat Sri Lankan parliament.

In the election, 196 lawmakers will be elected from party lists in multi-member districts. The rest will be elected from national lists, with party leaders deciding who gets a ticket, reports said.