The pro-rebel Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is the single largest coalition in Vavuniya Urban Council election with five seats, while their rivals, the Democratic People's Liberation Front and the UPFA, gained five seats together.

Polls closed Saturday afternoon with the turnout being 25 percent to 70 percent in Sri Lanka's first election since the government forces crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas, ending their decades-old bloody battle for a separate Tamil state.

The voter turnout in the Uva province was about 70 percent and Vavuniya over 60 percent, while Jaffna recorded a low turnout of 25 percent, the department of government information said.

Analysts say the popularity of President Rajapaksa has once again been proved in the results following the government's success in defeating the rebels militarily.