Sri Lankan presidential election starts

COLOMBO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's sixth presidential election started Tuesday morning with the two main candidates being the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka.

The Department of Elections said 14,088,500 Sri Lankans are eligible to cast their votes at 11,098 polling station from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time (0130 GMT to 1030 GMT).

This is the most important election held after the defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels in May last year.

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

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

There have been 859 reported incidents of election related violence since November with five people being killed.

The government has deployed 68,000 police personnel plus 25 Army battalions to maintain law and order in the election.

Rajapaksa on Monday called on a calm and peaceful election.

"All campaigning for this election is now concluded. It is a duty and responsibility of all citizens of our country who value democracy to extend their fullest co-operation to the Commissioner of Elections to conduct a free and fair election," said Rajapaksa in a statement.