Two weeks ahead of the forthcoming Presidential elections in Sri Lanka, President Mahinda Rajapaksa accompanied by the Commanders of the three armed forces this morning visited the northern military headquarters at Palaly in the Jaffna Peninsula , and addressed the troops and officers at the base there. During the course of the day President is also expected to visit other places in Jaffna in an effort to reach out to the Tamil electorate, whose votes are being considered crucial in the election.The visit of Mahinda Rajapaksa to the Jaffna peninsula comes barely a week after the former army chief and common opposition Presidential candidate Retd Gen. Sarath Fonseka toured the peninsula with the support of the pro LTTE Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and promised various relief measures in a bid to garner the Tamil votes including reducing the High Security Zones (HSZ) in the region.