Peace has never ceased the day in Sri Lanka, just when we thought that the end of the Tamil Tigers would be the end of chaos...
(BBC) - Sri Lankans are voting for a new parliament - two months after President Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected to power with a clear margin.
His government has since then locked up the principal defeated presidential candidate, Sarath Fonseka.
And the opposition has now split, with no unified voice to criticise the government.
Like the campaign for the presidential poll, this one has been marked by widespread - if low-level - violence.
It has also seen vindictive, personalised politics and constant breaches of electoral rules, causing the election commissioner once more to wring his hands.
Still popular
The former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka, is standing for his new political alliance even while incarcerated
The government still intends to try him in a military court on charges of illicit politicking and arms procurement.
It will be gratified that the protests against his detention, while at times loud, have been limited in scope.
The biggest opposition party has delinked itself from the general, while the main Tamil alliance, which improbably backed him in January, is going it alone in the north and east.
Mr Rajapaksa still enjoys much popularity because of last year's crushing of the Tamil Tiger rebels.
He says reconciliation will come through big development works but his critics say he's failed to reach out meaningfully to minority groups.
Past precedent suggests his coalition is unlikely to get two-thirds of the seats as it would like to do.
But if it does, through the election or by encouraging defections to its ranks, it will be able to change the constitution.
If that happens, Mr Rajapaksa has spoken of adding a second chamber of parliament to accommodate minorities better - but he has ruled out the federalism many Tamil politicians want.
Many people predict he would also try to scrap the current limit of two presidential terms.
