Al jazeera News :Voting is under way in Sri Lanka’s general election, in a poll widely regarded as a referendum on the political future of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. The main contest is between Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and outgoing prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP), which formed a minority government after Rajapaksa was ousted in January’s presidential election. Both are vying for the post as prime minister. The alliance that swept him from power, led by President Maithripala Sirisena, is also seeking a stronger mandate for reforms, as the nation seeks to elects the 225-member parliament in Monday’s elections. Mahinda Deshapriya, the election commissioner, said polling stations opened as planned at 7am local time, and several hours in, no incidents of violence had been reported. Voting stations are scheduled to close at 4pm and results are expected on Tuesday.Al Jazeera spoke to voters in the capital Colombo, and asked what they hope for from their new government. “We are hoping for the country being free of corruption. Everything is related to law and order. If you have that then everything is fine. This is our country and we want to live here and protect it and make it prosper.” “I’m voting for democracy, freedom, fairness, equality, friendly atmosphere and economic prosperity for all. I would like my country to copy the formula of Singapore and the Far East – inclusive development for all.””I realised that we are never going to have a clean parliament. Corruption is here and it’s going to stay. But I want a government that will deal with it and not sweep it under the carpet. A government that will give its people the right to hold the goverment accountable for its actions.”Lawyer Neshani Jayamaha Dahanayake said she still has not seen progress since the January election of Prime Minister Wickremasinghe [Arpit Goel/Al Jazeera] “I’m voting for progress for the country. I want it to be as it was before. I feel that since the beginning of this year, we haven’t progressed in any way.””I am voting for a higher employment rate and equal opportunities for all. No matter if they are Sinhala or Tamil or Muslim or Christian. I’m hoping that people will get a chance to make something of themselves based on merit and not on your ethnic or religious or financial background.”
