Colombo, Aug 8 (DPA) A low voter turnout marred the first local elections held in northern Sri Lanka after the defeat of Tamil rebels, officials said Saturday.
Municipal elections took place in Jaffna town, 396 km north of the capital, and elections for the urban council in Vavuniya, 240 km north of Colombo.

The elections were the first in the northern province without the presence of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that held sway for 26 years before being crushed by the military in May.

At least one of the parties contesting the elections, the Tamil National Alliance, was considered close to the rebels.

In the Jaffna, where 100,417 voters were registered to vote, less than 20 percent turned up by the close of polls Saturday evening. In Vavuniya, around 30 percent of the 24,616 eligible voters, cast their ballots.

“The voting was below our expectations as we expected a better turnout,” one politician said.

Residents said that many of the civilians affected by the war were not interested in the elections.

Over 280,000 civilians have been displaced by the war between government forces and rebels fighting for a separate homeland for minority Tamils.

Many have been accommodated in camps that generally lack proper sanitation and medical facilities and allow for little access to relatives.