Sri Lanka will hold the fourth presidential election on Tuesday as scheduled despite twin bombings in and near Colombo Saturday night which killed 24 people and wounded 129 others including President Chandrika Kumaratunga, a minister said Sunday.

Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera told a news conference here that President Kumaratunga phoned him Sunday morning from a hospital here about her decision on holding the election on

schedule, dismissing speculations about poll postponement.

He said Kumaratunga was "recovering speedily" in the hospital where she was rushed in Saturday night for emergency treatment to remove shrapnel near her right eye following the suicidal bombing in her election rally at Colombo Town Hall grounds.

Samaraweera denied speculations that Kumaratunga lost her eyesight due to the bombing which killed 21 people and wounded 84 others including three ministers.

He said the president will make a recorded address to the nation Sunday afternoon.

In another bomb blast on Saturday night, three people were killed and 45 others were injured when the main opposition United National Party was holding the election rally at the last day of

campaigning in suburban Colombo.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the two bombings but they are widely considered the work of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who have intensified their efforts recently in northern Sri Lanka in a 16-year old fight for an independent Tamil state.