Sri Lanka heads to the polls

Sri Lankans are voting on Monday in parliamentary elections that will decide the political future of a former strongman leader seeking a comeback eight months after being unseated in a shocking election defeat.

The voting is underway at 12,314 polling centers across the nation, with voters choosing from 6,100 candidates. The polls opened at 7 a.m. local time and will close at 4 p.m. The results are due on Tuesday.

The vote is seen as a referendum on the political future of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was Sri Lanka's president for nine years until his Jan. 8 election loss to a former ally. He is running for prime minister, a position that is second to the president.

Since that election loss, there has been a reversal of fortunes for Rajapaksa, his family and friends who were once all powerful controllers of the island nation. Some of them now face investigations or lawsuits for corruption, misuse of power and even murder.

Rajapaksa was hailed a warrior king for defeating the Tamil Tiger separatists to end a nearly 26-year civil war. However, he is accused of using his popularity to take control of parliament, the courts, armed forces and all government institutions.

He was also accused of widespread human rights abuses and suppressing freedoms.

He was set for an extended period rule after abolishing a two-term limit for presidents when he lost in his attempt to win a third term.

His main rival is the sitting prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, a two-time prime minister.

President Maithripala Sirisena, who was Rajapaksa's health minister, is backing Wickremesinghe, with whom he formed an alliance in the January election after breaking away from Rajapaksa's government.

The Parliament has 225 members, so any party or coalition must win at least 113 seats to form a government.

A total of 196 politicians will be elected from party lists in multimember districts. The rest will be elected from national lists, with party leaders deciding who gets a ticket.

Election monitors said more than 1,500 complaints were received and three election-related deaths were reported during the campaign.

Al Jazeera and The Associated Press