The Centre for Policy Alterna-tives thinktank, in a survey of 1,200 voters in 22 voting districts across the island, found that cost of living and the peace process with Tamil rebels were the two main issues in the November 17 election.

On both counts, opposition leader and former premier Ranil Wickremesinghe was about six percentage points ahead of his main rival, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, the survey showed.

A full 41 percent believed Wickremesinghe, whose right-wing United National Party introduced market reforms in 1977, was better suited to manage the economy. Rajapakse, who promises a socialist model, scored 35.1 percent.

The opposition leader got a 45.4 percent approval rating for his ability to handle the peace process with Tamil Tiger rebels while Rajapakse trailed with 38.7 percent.

The survey also showed many voters believed neither candidate could handle the economy nor the peace process, with 23.9 percent saying both were incapable of cutting living costs.

"The majority of every age group decides on the ability to control the cost of living when choosing a candidate," the survey report said. "The ability to solve the ethnic conflict seems to be the second highest reason for deciding on a candidate."

However, most people were sceptical about the election pledges of both candidates with fewer than 37 percent saying they had confidence in the candidates delivering on their promises.

The outsider candidate Victor Hettigoda told reporters Wednesday that both main candidates were trying fool the electorate with fancy promises.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's main private election monitoring outfit expressed fears Wednesday that violence will scare off minority Tamil voters in troubled regions during this month's presidential election.

The People's Action for Free and Fair Elections (Paffrel) said it feared for the ballot in the eastern province where there are near-daily clashes between rival rebel groups and security forces.

"We fear there won't be a free poll in the eastern province," Paffrel chief Kingsley Rodrigo told reporters. "Intimidation on the election day is a clear possibility."