COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s opposition today raised the tension ahead of this week’s presidential election by accusing the ruling regime of preparing to stage a coup to hang on to power.

Citing what they said was credible information, opposition leaders pointed to troop movements, plans to prevent the election commissioner announcing a result and preparations to disrupt the media. The ruling party led by President Mahinda Rajapakse has consistently denied any such intentions and said it expects to win fairly in Tuesday’s contest against former army chief Sarath Fonseka.

At a press conference with Fonseka, leaders of his coalition allies repeated warnings first made last Thursday about a state-backed coup and said they were ready to stage street protests if the will of the people was ignored.

“In the face of inevitable defeat, the Rajapakse regime, according to reliable information, seems to be conspiring to thwart the democratic process,” said Mangala Samaraweera, a former foreign minister and backer of Fonseka. Fonseka said 15 armoured fighting vehicles had been brought to the capital from the former war zone in the north and added that key military commanders who could not be counted on by Rajapakse had been moved out.

The 59-year-old retired four-star general, who was the country’s army chief until last November, believes the 275,000-strong armed forces are among his staunchest supporters.

“We are 100-percent certain that the military and police will not carry out the orders (to seize power),” Fonseka said.

Military sources confirmed that several senior officers

had been recalled to Colombo, but said the armoured

cars had been brought down to take part in national day celebrations on February 4.

The government stressed that the president had ordered

the authorities to ensure a free and fair poll and dismissed

the allegations as tactics from the opposition. “The opposition

is making baseless allegations

to justify their defeat,” Rajapakse’s spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage said. “We will have a peaceful election and all indications are that the president is comfortably ahead.”

Liyanage said the president has issued instructions to the police and security forces to maintain law and order and ensure peaceful voting on Tuesday.

Opposition leader Ranil

Wickremesinghe said they had also appealed to police and security forces not to carry out any “illegal” orders.

“We have to be ready now to protect our franchise. We are making counter plans. We will get on to the streets if necessary,” he said. Campaigning for Tuesday’s presidential election ended on Saturday night with both Fonseka and Rajapakse expressing confidence of winning amid a personal and bitter contest between the two sides.

The two men were the architects of the government’s victory over Tamil Tiger rebels, whose 37-year violent struggle for a Tamil homeland was crushed in May.