Guinea-Bissau's voters cast ballots in a quiet and orderly election on Sunday to replace the slain president of the West African state, hoping for a chance to end turmoil worsened by army rivalries and drug gangs.
But turnout was low and the electoral commission blamed tension after the killing of President Joao Bernardo Vieira on March 2, apparently in revenge for the assassination of the head of the army. One candidate was also killed during the campaign.
There were no immediate reports of trouble from across the former Portuguese colony of 1.6 million people, although heavy rains also discouraged voters in some parts of the swampy country.
"This is a great day. I'm voting for peace, calm and stability," said trader Binta Diallo in Bissau, the run-down coastal capital. "I want a president able to bring peace and quiet and to end the criminality."
The vote is also a test for a region worried at the retreat of democracy after coups in Guinea and Mauritania and a deepening political crisis in Niger.
"The vote took place in a calm and orderly way," said Johan Van Ecke, head of the European Union observer mission, but he noted that turnout appeared lower than for last year's parliamentary election.
The electoral commission also said turnout had been low, without giving figures.
"It is the events of March 2 that contributed to the abstention," said senior commission official Orlando Viegas.
Whoever wins faces the challenge of pulling the state back from failure and reforming security forces that are little more than rival militias.
MILITARY DOMINANT
"The military has been far too dominant in Bissau-Guinean politics to date, so there is a real need for the international community to offer support for capacity building," said Kissy Agyeman-Togobo of IHS Global Insight.
If none of the 11 candidates wins outright on Sunday, there will be a second round. Counting started immediately after polling stations closed and partial results are expected within two to three days.
The biggest party in parliament, the PAIGC, is represented by Malam Bacai Sanha, interim president from 1999-2000 after a coup and brief civil war.
Former President Koumba Yala, overthrown in a 2003 coup, is also expected to do well. The former philosophy professor has the backing of the biggest tribe, the Balante.
Henrique Pereira Rosa, standing as an independent, served as interim president between the overthrow of Yala and the 2005 election won by Vieira.
It is possible there will be no outright winner in the ballot of a registered 600,000 voters, meaning a second round would be needed.
Guinea-Bissau's instability and the squabbling within the military has been worsened by the involvement of Colombian cocaine cartels. They took advantage of unpoliced islands and creeks as staging points for shipping drugs to Europe.
But the U.N. body responsible for fighting drugs and crime told Reuters this week that the disappearance of many of those in Guinea-Bissau who were closest to the drug dealers had cut trafficking dramatically.
Guinea-Bissau's most important formal exports are fish and cashew nuts.