Lankan media, parties call for fair polls

Kumaratunga had wanted to stay on an extra year -- which she argued she had left over from a first term cut short by snap polls -- but the Supreme Court ruled against her Friday, and polls must now be held before November 21.

Sri Lanka's usually divided media and political parties Saturday hailed the court's decision and urged all sides to ensure fair and peaceful campaigning and balloting, after elections in recent years led to scores of deaths.

The privately-run The Island daily greeted the court ruling with a headline of "three hearty cheers".

The state-run Daily News called for a peaceful campaign and urged candidates to tone down their rhetoric and ensure violence-free polls.

"It is also equally important to ensure that the campaign is free of racist hate talk and religious bigotry," the Daily News said in an editorial headlined: "Let's have civilised restraint."

Past electoral violence has been fuelled by a three-decade-old conflict between Sri Lanka's mainly Hindu Tamil minority and the predominantly Buddhist Singhalese majority that has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

A ceasefire has been in effect since 2002, but tensions have been heightened by the assassination earlier this month of Sri Lanka's foreign minister that the government has blamed on the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

At least five people were killed in campaign-related violence when snap parliamentary elections were held in April 2004. In a December 2001 general election, some 41 people died and more than 700 were injured.

European Union election observers said after the last general election that the Tamil Tigers had used violence to manipulate results in favour of their proxies.