Thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets of Sri Lanka’s capital Wednesday to protest the results of the recent presidential election, which they say was marred by fraud.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa secured a landslide victory, defeating his former army chief Sarath Fonseka in the Jan. 26 poll with a 17 percentage point margin, according to official results. But the opposition says the vote was rigged and has said it will mount a court challenge.

After the street rally, protesters gathered in a field in central Colombo to listen to speeches from opposition politicians.

Election protests are rare in this island nation, but the demonstration reflected the bitter nature of a presidential campaign that pitted former allies against one other.

“The president is not behaving like someone who has won the election with such a big majority,” Fonseka told the flag-waving and cheering crowd. “His actions and his retribution on opponents suggests that he is nervous.”

Human rights groups say the government has stepped up threats and intimidation against opposition supporters and the media after the presidential vote. The government denies this.

Anura Dissanayake, another opposition official, called on supporters to reject what he called a “corrupt election.”

Both Rajapaksa and Fonseka are considered heroes by the country’s Sinhalese majority for their leading roles in defeating Tamil Tiger rebels last May. But the two fell out at the end of the war, and Fonseka joined the opposition.

Opposition lawmaker Palitha Range Bandara said Wednesday’s protest was the first step in their attempt to challenge the president’s legitimacy. The demonstration ended without violence.

The country’s election chief Dayananda Dissanayake said Wednesday that he stands by the election results announced last week, but reiterated that during the campaign state-run media disregarded his calls for fair coverage and favored the president.

With parliamentary elections planned for later this year, the unofficial campaign season is well under way.

-AP-