Sri Lanka ruling coalition wins first post-war polls

Sri Lanka’s ruling coalition and an ethnic Tamil party seen as a front for the defeated Tamil Tiger rebels won the first post-war elections, held near the island’s former battlefields.

State television said President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s ruling coalition captured Jaffna town council, securing 13 of the 23 seats, while the pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance came second with eight seats. The pro-rebel party won the Vavuniya town council, taking five of the 11 seats, while the ruling party won two seats.