Rajapakse's United Peoples' Freedom Alliance won control of 145 of the first 165 councils announced, and while his Marxist JVP coalition partners -- running independently -- boosted their share of the vote, they won less than some expected.

"Sri Lankan voters have shown they do not support hardline or extremist parties," said Jayadeva Uyangoda, head of political studies at Colombo University. "This is good news for President Rajapakse."

With more than a third of councils still to report, the JVP had won more local government seats than it took in total at the last vote in 2002. But against some expectations, they placed a distant third behind the opposition United National Party UNP).

The UNP won almost all local councils in 2002 when it was in government, but this time took only 16 of those announced so far -- no surprise, as Sri Lankan voters favour the party in power at local elections in the hope of getting more government money.

The JVP retained control of its one council in the majority-Sinhalese south, but had yet to win any new authorities.