Ex-strongman Rajapakse plots comeback as Sri Lanka votes

Colombo

 Sri Lanka began voting yesterday in a general election in which the former leader Mahinda Rajapaksa is hoping to pull off a shock comeback, this time as prime minister, months after being toppled as president.

Rajapaksa is confident of returning to power after drawing huge crowds on the election trail, despite the 69-year-old and his closest relatives facing corruption allegations. "We will win and that is certain," Rajapakse said shortly after voting in his home constituency of Hambantota at the astrologically auspicious time of 10.53 am. "My message is to remain calm and peacefully enjoy our victory."

Meanwhile, the election commissioner said the vote, called a year ahead of schedule by President Maithripala Sirisena who ousted the veteran leader in January, had been one of the most peaceful in Sri Lanka's history.

Results are not expected until early Tuesday, but analysts predict that no single party will win a majority and that Rajapakse's hardline nationalism will undermine his quest for coalition partners. Turnout was an estimated 65 per cent, higher than the last parliamentary polls in 2010, but well below the 81pc who turned out on January 8 to hand Sirisena his surprise victory.