Ex-strongman Rajapakse Plots Comeback as Sri Lanka Votes

A bullish Mahinda Rajapakse said he was confident of staging a shock return to power as Sri Lanka's prime minister in elections Monday held just months after he was toppled as president.

Monitors said the vote, called a year ahead of schedule by President Maithripala Sirisena, was largely peaceful despite some reports of candidates trying to bribe voters.

Election officials put turnout at around 65 percent -- higher than the last parliamentary polls in 2010, but well below the 81 percent who turned out in January to hand Sirisena his surprise victory over veteran strongman Rajapakse.

The president has threatened to invoke his executive powers to prevent his combative predecessor from becoming prime minister, but Rajapakse is hoping a strong showing will force Sirisena to back down.

Since his surprise victory over his former mentor in a January 8 presidential election, Sirisena has struggled to impose his authority over his United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) and was powerless to prevent Rajapakse from standing as one of its candidates.

"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."

Rajapakse's optimism is at odds with analysts' predictions that no single party will win a majority and that the former president's hardline nationalism will undermine his quest for coalition partners.

The 69-year-old remains hugely popular among big sections of the majority Sinhalese community for presiding over the crushing defeat of Tamil guerrillas in 2009 after their 37-year war for a separate homeland.

But while he has drawn big crowds to rallies, he remains a polarising figure on an island still struggling to come to terms with the past.

Sirisena is thought to prefer the United National Party (UNP) of outgoing premier Ranil Wickremesinghe to form the next government, with backing from Tamil and Muslim parties which have little love for Rajapakse.

Speaking after he voted in Colombo, Wickremesinghe said he was confident of forming a new government that could "consolidate the January 8 revolution".

"Let us now respect the verdict and let us all work together to build a new Sri Lanka without any disruptions," he told reporters.

Polls closed at 4:00pm (1030 GMT) and results are expected Tuesday.

Sri Lanka has no reliable opinion polls and most observers were taken by surprise when Rajapakse was defeated after a decade in power.

Sirisena had been a senior member of the UPFA as well as health minister before he split to run for the presidency.

Although Sirisena is now UPFA leader, his reluctant agreement to Rajapakse's candidacy in the parliamentary elections highlighted his shaky grip on the party.

His decision to call early polls stemmed from frustration at the blocking tactics deployed by Rajapakse loyalists in parliament.

Rajapakse cultivated close ties with China during his decade in power, with Beijing helping to finance a host of infrastructure projects.

During the campaign Rajapakse pledged to press ahead with the mega projects which have partially stalled since he left power.

Sirisena and Wickremesinghe have been trying to steer Colombo away from Beijing's close embrace and have made concerted efforts to improve ties with giant neighbor India.

The UNP has been emphasizing its commitment to economic reforms and reconciliation, which it argues will be impossible under Rajapakse.

Opponents say Rajapakse's real objective is to secure parliamentary immunity against possible future prosecutions.

Since his defeat in January, Rajapakse has seen his wife and two of his brothers accused of corruption. One of his sons has also been implicated in the alleged murder of a former rugby star.

The perception that nepotism and corruption flourished under Rajapakse has damaged his reputation in the eyes of many voters.

"Ranil (Wickremesinghe) is not a thief unlike Mahinda (Rajapakse)," said N. Jayasekera, a taxi driver in Colombo, after he voted for the UNP.

His support though appeared as strong as ever among loyalists.

"Rajapakse is a great man for ending the civil war in 2009. In the history of my country, there is only one hero and that is Mahinda Rajapakse," said Jagath Kumara, 34, after voting in Hambantota.

Rajapakse was shunned by Western governments over the brutal end to the island's ethnic conflict, which prompted calls for international investigators to carry out a war crimes probe.

The U.N. says some 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed in the final stages of the war, one of the bloodiest in post-colonial Asia.