Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe launched his re-election bid Sunday with a call to "give peace a chance" and end three decades of ethnic conflict on the island.
The premier spearheaded the campaign for his United National Party at a meeting attended by tens of thousands of party members in Colombo.
Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga abruptly called the April 2 election four years ahead of schedule amid an ongoing political feud with Wickremesinghe, casting a shadow over a shaky peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels.
The president accuses Wickremesinghe of giving too much away to the rebels in his bid to end the conflict on the resort island that has killed more than 60,000 people since 1972.
But Wickremesinghe said no one could stop the peace process he had been pursuing, despite moves against his government by his main political rival.
"No one can leave the cease-fire agreement," he said, referring to the Oslo-brokered truce which marks its second anniversary Monday.
"The challenge is to establish peace through the ceasefire. Without that, we can't achieve anything else."
His "give peace a chance" campaign featured large posters of British Prime Minister Tony Blair shaking Wickremesinghe's hand aimed at underlining the international support he has received in his peace bid.
"An internationally recognised leadership" proclaimed a banner above a huge photo of Blair and Wickremesinghe.
A portrait of US President George W. Bush patting Wickremesinghe on the back was seen elsewhere in the city. The Sri Lankan leader won 4.5 billion dollars in aid pledges to support his peace drive in Tokyo last June.
Sri Lanka's current political crisis erupted when Wickremesinghe was away in Washington last November for talks with Bush and Kumaratunga, who is from a rival party, took over the portfolios of defence, interior and information.
She later used her sweeping powers to sack the legislature controlled by Wickremesinghe.
The left-leaning Kumaratunga announced the snap poll after her People's Alliance entered into a deal with the leftist JVP, or People's Liberation Front, known for its display of portraits of Lenin and Karl Marx.
Her party wants to renegotiate the truce terms with Tamil Tigers while her ally says it will only discuss "reasonable demands" from the rebels.
Wickremesinghe, known as pro-business, expressed hopes of returning to power at the polls.
The president's alliance has expressed similar confidence of winning but analysts believe neither is likely to muster a majority in the 225-member assembly.
A close battle between the rival groups is seen clearing the way for minority Tamils to emerge king-makers in a hung parliament.
"Whatever the challenges, I will take my program for peace, economy and job creation forward," Wickremesinghe said. "I'm confident of getting a mandate to continue."
A senior stalwart of the president's party, former ports minister Ronnie de Mel, defected to Wickremesinghe's side at the meeting Sunday, pledging support to push the peace process with the rebels.
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