A young supporter holds high a poster of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa during Rajapaksa's final public rally for the presidential elections in Kesbewa, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Monday, Jan. 5, 2015. A confident Rajapaksa had called the election two years ahead of schedule, hoping to win a third six-year term before voters' memories faded of the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels. But an internal revolt now threatens his hold on power with Health Minister Maithripala Sirisena, a close Rajapaksa aide and No. 2 in the president's Freedom Party, defecting and announcing he would run as an opposition candidate in Thursday's election. Poster reads "Leader of the common." (AP Photo/Sanka Gayashan), APTOPIX