Sri Lankan president makes early poll gains

Hundreds of Sri Lankan troops surrounded the hotel where the opposition candidate was holed up today as early returns from the nation’s hard-fought presidential election gave the incumbent a comfortable lead.

The military deployment reflected the tensions surrounding the race between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his former army commander Sarath Fonseka.

The two men are considered war heroes by the Sinhalese majority for leading the country to victory in its long civil war with the Tamil Tiger rebels just eight months ago, but a bitter falling out pushed Mr Fonseka to quit, join the opposition and challenge the president.

Throughout the campaign, the opposition accused Mr Rajapaksa of plotting to rig the vote and steal the election.

Mr Fonseka himself was unable to vote yesterday because he was not registered. It was unclear if he had failed to register or if he tried and was left off the voter rolls.

Initial results today showed Mr Rajapaksa leading with 3,563,634 votes compared to 2,209,214 for Mr Fonseka, a 23% difference. There are some 14 million registered voters, and the overall turnout during yesterday’s polling was around 70%.

As the results were being announced, troops surrounded the Cinnamon Lake Hotel after about 400 people, including alleged army deserters, had gathered inside with Mr Fonseka, military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said.

“We don’t know what’s their motive and as a protective measure, we have deployed troops around the hotel and people who go in and come out are being checked,” Nanayakkara said. He said that there were no plans to arrest Mr Fonseka.