Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa, defeated his rival, General Sarath Fonseka, in the January 26th election with almost 58 percent of the vote. But opponents say the ballot was rigged.

General Fonseka and leaders of opposition political parties who backed him, have accused the government of manipulating counting at vote counting centers.

They say sophisticated computer rigging methods were used to influence the final result.

[Jack Perera, Fonseka Supporter]:
“This meeting is to bring people together against a government which has turned a certain victory by massive rigging."

The government has shrugged off the allegations as a matter of sour grapes.

But opposition leaders in Columbo say they will take their protest campaign across the country.

[Ajith Siriwardene, Fonseka Supporter]:
“At the time of the election all sectors of society had come together to defeat the corruption of this government and defeat the government in the election. The result went against that. That is why we say this election is a fraud."

On Wednesday Sri Lanka's election commissioner rejected opposition allegations of counting fraud but said he would investigate any complaints of vote rigging.