Thursday, November 17 2005 18:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Colombo: Amid a virtual boycott by minority Tamils seen as kingmakers, Sri Lanka today (Nov 17, 2005) voted for a new President, who is expected to move forward the faltering peace process with the LTTE and help revive the tsunami-hit economy, in an election marred by sporadic violence and explosions which left two people dead and 17 injured.

Election authorities had set up clustered polling booths for tens of thousands of people in rebel-held areas to cross front lines and vote, but only a handful turned up till the close of the nine-hour polling time this evening, officials said.

In the northern peninsula of Jaffna, only 1,465 people voted out of some 701,938 people eligible to vote. In the volatile east, there were several bomb blasts that discouraged voters, police said.

At the Muhamalai cluster polling booth only one man voted out of 91,000. At the Omanthai cluster polling booth, which was set up for 84,000 people, only four voted.

The boycott was seen as a disadvantage for opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe who had expected minority Tamils, who are seen as kingmakers, to vote for him.

Despite there being 13 candidates running for the top job, a close fight is predicted between Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe.

"I am confident of victory," Wickremesinghe said after casting his ballot at the College House polling booth here.