WRAP Tamils, president vote; president soundbite, fmr PM votes ADDS Fonseka sbite

(26 Jan 2010) SHOTLIST
Hambantota
1. Wide of election centre
2. Various of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa walking to election centre
3. Various of Mahinda Rajapaksa voting
4. Various of Mahinda Rajapaksa outside voting station with media
5. SOUNDBITE (Sinhala) Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa:
"Our victory has been confirmed today, I clearly see that people around the country are voting with good confidence and motivation."
6. Mahinda Rajapaksa among crowd
Colombo
7. Wide of people entering polling station
8. People queuing up to vote inside polling station
9. Various of police officers checking the identity of voters
Colombo
10. General Sarath Fonseka , Presidential Candidate arriving at news conference
11. Wide of Fonseka
12. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Sarath Fonseka , Presidential Candidate:
"The polling started in the morning with lot of enthusiasm. There had been few incidents arranged by the interested parties. Most probably with the government backing to discourage people from voting."
13. Cutaway of media
14. SOUNDBITE: (English) General Sarath Fonseka , Presidential Candidate:
"People want a change and we believe this change they are expecting from us and this gives us the indication that if a large number percentage is voting obviously they are voting against the government and asking for a change."
15. Media
16. Fonseka leaving
Colombo
17. Exterior of polling station
18. Close-up of polling station sign reading "to the polling station"
19. People arriving to vote
20. Various of police officer checking identity of voters
21. Wide of polling station
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Vox pop, voter:
"This election, we want to be a good ruler, has to come and rule the country. And the country has to be developed now the war is over, so the development is fast development. We expect it."
23. Names of candidates and rules and regulations of elections pasted on wall
24. Wide of street and police officer
STORYLINE
Sri Lankans crowded into polling stations on Tuesday throughout Colombo in a hard-fought election to decide whether the incumbent president or his former army chief should lead the nation''s recovery from a brutal civil war both men helped win.
However, there was less enthusiasm for the poll in minority Tamil areas most affected by the fighting, and early morning explosions in the city of Jaffna - in the heart of the predominantly Tamil north - were expected to further suppress turnout.
But there were no reports of major violence by the time polls closed in the afternoon.
The top opposition candidate, however, was not allowed to cast a ballot because his name was not on voter registration lists.
Though it has been just eight months since President Mahinda Rajapaksa and retired General Sarath Fonseka declared victory in the quarter-century war against the Tamil Tiger rebels, many voters were more focused on the stagnant economy than the newfound peace.
Though there have been no reliable polls, both candidates appear to command strong Sinhalese followings, and the votes of the Tamils - who
suffered most from the government offensive against the rebels - may prove decisive.
Twenty other minor candidates are also running.
Voters from the Manik Farm camp in Vavuniya, where civilians displaced from the war zone are living, walked about a half-mile (a kilometre) to
polling centres set up at the village of Ariyathottam.
In a separate area in Vavuniya, authorities bussed in former rebel fighters - young men and women - from rehabilitation camps to vote.
Some did not bother voting, and instead chatted.
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