Colombo, Aug 17 (IANS): High turnout was witnessed on Monday as Sri Lanka voted in incident-free countrywide polls to elect a new parliament and a government, media reports said.

Around 15 million people were eligible to cast their votes at over 12,000 polling centres.

Over 60 political parties and more than 100 independent groups are contesting the polls, which will elect a new 225-member parliament and a new government in the island nation.

The polls were announced by President Maithripala Sirisena in June following the dissolving of the parliament six months after he was elected.

A two main parties contesting the election are the United National Front (UNF) coalition led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the opposition United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) whose main candidate is former president Mahinda Rajapakse.

As he arrived in the capital Colombo to cast his vote, Wickremesinghe expressed confidence that his coalition would win the elections and form the next government, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This is a free and fair election both in terms of legal norms as well as democratic norms," Wickremesinghe said after casting his vote.

Polling will conclude at 4.00 p.m., following which the ballot boxes will be taken to the counting centres, the Daily Mirror reported.

Expressways have been made toll-free to enable people from remote areas to reach polling stations to cast their ballot.

According to election monitors, the polls have been peaceful so far with no major incidents of violence being reported from any part of the country.