Polling opens in decisive Sri Lankan presidential election

  Polling opened on the dot at 7 am on Thursday morning in a decisive presidential poll in Sri Lanka seen as a do-or-die battle for President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his main opponent, former Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena. Seventeen others are contesting the poll, the largest number of candidates at a presidential election, but the contest is mainly between the two mentioned earlier. Voters, mostly the elderly and women, congregated outside polling stations even before 7 am across the country responding to the call by Elections Commissioner to cast their ballot as early as possible. Some changes voters found were that men and women didn't have separate queues unlike before. In the case of the elderly, a request for help saw two officials instead of one helping an aged person near the marking counter. The Elections Commissioner has vowed firm action against saboteurs while the police have been instructed to shoot -rather than hesitate - if trouble-makers cause disturbances and defy police orders. - (Feizal)