[Photo: A policeman delivers ballot boxes at an election centre in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka.]

by Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO - Sri Lanka's ruling coalition won the latest in a string of provincial elections this weekend, a strong result which analysts said is likely to spur its leader to call early national and presidential polls.

With a popularity boost from his defeat of Tamil Tiger rebels after a 25-year war, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's coalition won 38 seats in the 55-member council of his native Southern Province in Saturday's election.

The United Peoples Freedom Alliance won 68 percent of the vote, less than the 70-80 percent it had forecast in the province where Rajapaksa has started massive development projects including work on the country's largest port.

The margin was still strong enough that Rajapaksa is now likely to call early national elections, analysts and supporters said.

?The president had told the party organisers to be prepared and ready for any future elections,? Anusha Pelpita, director of the government information department, told Reuters.

Rajapaksa's allies expect him to call a presidential election in January - ahead of when it is scheduled to happen, in November 2011 - while he still enjoys popularity from winning the war.

That popularity could fade if anticipated economic benefits from peace fail to materialise. There is already public grumbling over the high cost of living.

The earliest Rajapaksa can call a presidential election is after he completes his fourth year in charge on Nov. 16.

Rajapaksa is also expected to call parliamentary polls in March, a month earlier than scheduled.

Were Rajapaksa to gain a two-thirds majority in parliament, he would have the votes to change Sri Lanka's constitution.

Constitutional changes are part of what Sri Lanka's minority Tamils, who say they are discriminated against, want and could help prevent new conflicts. Rajapaksa has said he expects to incorporate some of them if he is re-elected to a second term.

In May, Rajapaksa's government defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which fought a 25-year war with successive governments for a separate state in the country's north and east.

With Saturday's victory, Rajapaksa's ruling coalition has won all eight provincial elections held in a staggered manner since May 2008 to select provincial councillors. Only the formerly Tiger-ruled Northern Province has yet to vote.

Election monitors said there was some violence, but it was low compared to pre-poll incidents.

Opposition parties have alleged that state media and promises of government jobs were used to the ruling party's advantage during the campaign.