Rajapaksa takes initial lead in Sri Lanka's presidential poll

COLOMBO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa took initial lead in the postal votes counting in the island's presidential election with the main challenger being former Army Commander Sarath Fonseka.

According to statistics issued by the Department of Elections, Rajapaksa got 69.33 percent of the postal votes in the central district of Ratnapura while Fonseka got 30.37 percent. The total votes polled in the district were 13,753.

The postal voting was held on Jan. 12 and Jan. 13 with 401,109 state employees being qualified for the postal voting.

The South Asian nation's sixth presidential election was held largely free of violence on Tuesday.

The department said 14,088,500 Sri Lankans were eligible to cast their votes at 11,098 polling stations from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time (0130 GMT to 1030 GMT) to choose their next president mainly from Rajapaksa and Fonseka though there are 22 candidates.

Rajapaksa called the election two years ahead of schedule to capitalize on his popularity among the majority Sinhalese after ending the island's bloody ethnic conflict.

Fonseka, who commanded the Army to defeat the rebels from 2006 to 2009, is equally credited for the victory.

With final results being expected Wednesday morning, both sides are asking their supporters to celebrate the victory peacefully and with dignity.