| Sri Lanka's ruling party swept two local councils in an election seen as a referendum on the administration's war against Tamil rebels, results showed on Sunday. President Mahinda Rajapakse's United People's Freedom Alliance comfortably won the provincial councils by polling over 55 percent of Saturday's vote, according to the department of elections. Rajapakse wanted the ballot for the highest level of local government in the North Central and Sabaragamuwa provinces to be a referendum on his military campaign against Tamil separatists. |