An impressive 70 per cent of the people turned up to vote in Sri Lanka’s first post-LTTE presidential election, but the former bastions of the Tamil Tigers saw a low turnout in the fiercely fought polls between the incumbent and his one-time confidant.

This is the first presidential election in Sri Lanka since 1972 that was held without the shadow of the Tamil Tigers and a high voter turnout of 65 to 70 per cent was reported, sources said. (Read: Key facts about Sri Lanka)

The turnout was reported to be brisk around the capital Colombo and the Sinhala dominated areas but light to moderate in Tamil areas of the island where polling was marred by pre-dawn bomb blasts and allegations of vote rigging.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa is pitted against his former military chief Sarath Fonseka, both of whom are Sinhalese, and fought an acrimonious campaign in the run up to the polls. (Read: Lanka presidential candidate profiles)

According to Sri Lanka’s Election Monitor voting turnout in the eastern province was between 50 and 60 per cent but in the former LTTE bastions Killinochchi and Mullaithivu a meager 10 per cent voter turned out to cast their ballot.

In the northern provincial city of Jaffna too a little over 20 per cent votes were cast.

Inadequate transportation facilities to ferry resettled voters was said to be one of the reasons for the low turnout.

Two petrol bombs were hurled in Velvetthurai in Jaffna early in the morning, but no one was hurt in the incidents.

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