As per the Elections Secretariat, 7,696 candidates from 24 political parties and hundreds of independent groups are in the fray.

The defeated opposition candidate in the January 26 presidential election, General (retired) Sarath Fonseka, is also in the battle.

A total of 1,40,88,500 voters will elect 196 of the 225 Members of Parliament while 29 will be elected from national lists of political parties. Parliament is scheduled to meet on April 22.

The opposition parties, which supported General (retired) Fonseka in the presidential election, are divided into two groups, giving an edge to the ruling combine led by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. More...Discuss this story Published: Sat Feb 27 22:23:26 EST 2010

In chartered buses and private cars, Sri Lankans pour into this war-ravaged city, finally rejoined to the rest of the country.

Some are ethnic Tamils coming home to see relatives after decades living elsewhere. Others are Sinhalese tourists from the south, curious to see a long-denied corner of their island.

Jaffna served as ground zero in Sri Lanka's 26-year civil war, which ended last May with the defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The city remains run-down, hollowed out by war, occupation, and isolation.

But nine months of peace has opened up road links, pared down the number of military checkpoints, and ended a nighttime curfew in Jaffna. Ambitious postwar plans call for the rebuilding of its cratered downtown, though it will take more than money to undo the damage of a bitter, ethnic-based conflict over land and power.

"It will take many, many years," says S K Sirtrampalam, a retired historian More...Discuss this story Published: Fri Feb 26 20:44:25 EST 2010