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Sri Lankans began trickling into polling stations all over the country early on Wednesday to cast their votes in the second parliamentary election in as many years amidst reports that Tamils in the north are being prevented from exercising their franchise.
The closure of a check-point in the north, which leads to areas held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), is likely to prevent approximately 60,000 Tamils from travelling to polling booths in the government-held town of Vavuniya, 260 kms north of the capital Colombo, where they are entitled to vote.
The moderate Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) may end up as the loser and was heard complaining that the party's 'chances have been greatly affected'.
The government defended the move saying that the blockade was ordered to prevent LTTE cadres from infiltrating Vavuniya, official sources said.
The election is taking place under the shadow of violence after 35 days of bitter campaigning that was often marred by fatal shootings and clashes between armed groups owing allegiance to different political parties.
Election officials said no major untoward incident had been reported in the early stages of polling, which began at 0700 hours and will go on till 1600 hours in 9,981 polling stations across the country.
Four murders were reported from different places on Tuesday night, and 40 instances of arson took place at the north-central town of Anuradhapura, a police official said.
President Chandrika Kumaratunga and main opposition party leader Ranil Wickremesinghe have called for peaceful polls and asked their partymen to cooperate with security personnel in enforcing election rules.
Officials expect nearly 80 per cent of the 12.42 million eligible voters to exercise their franchise before the end of the day to elect 196 members directly to the unicameral parliament, and two others from various parties in proportion to the number of votes received by each.
Kumaratunga had called for this snap poll after her People's Alliance lost the slender majority it obtained in the October 2000 election.
She had dissolved Parliament on October 10 to avoid defeat on the floor of the House amidst a spate of defections to the opposition ranks.
The opposition United National Party (UNP) has fielded a strong phalanx of candidates, including those from parties representing the Muslim and Tamil communities.
Pollsters have predicted that the UNP might be able to acquire the requisite majority with the help of its allies, but a close contest is on the cards, given the diametrical divide over issues concerning the Sinhala-Tamil ethnic conflict and the country's troubled economy.
The third force in Sri Lankan politics, Marxist Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP), and a newly-formed four-party Tamil Nationalist Alliance (TNA) are contesting on their own, but are seen to be on either side of the main political divide between the PA and the UNP.
If there is a hung parliament, the seats won by the JVP and TNA may determine which party - the PA or the UNP - will form the government.
Local and foreign election observers are keeping a close watch on the election scene. The European Commission, the largest external mission, has warned that the process might be irredeemably tainted unless the parties restrained their supporters from resorting to violence.
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence, a domestic group, has said 38 killings in recent weeks were related to the poll campaign, while the police election secretariat recorded 1,955 incidents of violence, including 27 murders and hundreds of cases of attempted killings and armed threats.
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