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Sri Lanka heads to polls amid pandemic as China-friendly Rajapaksa brothers seek to consolidate power
- President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wants a two-thirds parliamentary majority to enable reforms that make his office more powerful
- He won the presidency in November vowing to restore relations with China - strained by disputes over Chinese investments
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Sri Lankans shrugged off fears of coronavirus and streamed into polling centres on Wednesday to elect a new parliament that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa hopes will clear the way for him to boost his powers.
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The tourism-dependent island nation of 21 million people has been struggling since deadly East Sunday attacks on hotels and churches by Islamist militants last year were followed by lockdowns to slow the spread of the pandemic.
Rajapaksa is seeking a two-thirds majority for his party in the 225-seat parliament to enable constitutional reforms to make the presidency more powerful so he can implement his economic and national security agenda.
Voting was slowed down because of strict health guidelines that includes sanitisation measures, social distancing and compulsory face masks, with polling stations open an additional hour, to 5pm, to help accommodate more voters.
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The election was originally scheduled for April but was twice postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Sri Lanka has largely contained the spread of the virus with 2,834 confirmed cases including 11 deaths.
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