Will there be Peaceful General Election in Sri Lanka?

The presidential election of 2010 in Sri Lanka is going to take place on January 26, 2010. There are nearly 22 candidates but the main content will be between the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa who is supported by United People's Freedom Alliance. His main rival in the election is Sarath Fonseka who is supported by many of the opposition parties. Just a week is left before the election and there is a lot of hope that the election will be peaceful. A few months ago, the civil war ended in the country.

There have been some violent clashes between the supporters of these two candidates and some bloodshed also took place.

BBC reported:

A supporter of opposition candidate Gen Sarath Fonseka was killed in a clash involving ruling party activists in the north-western town of Waryiapola.

Later, a ruling party supporter was killed in a nearby town when a ruling party campaign office was bombed.

The 26 January presidential election is taking place amid heightened tension.

The campaign has largely been peaceful so far with some isolated incidence of violence. In the last few elections, violence was a very natural matter. This time, hopefully, the people of Sri Lanka can witness a largely peaceful election.