The sweeping mandate to the left coalition underlines widening support for his leftist policies, giving him the power to push through his plans to fight poverty and graft in the island nation struggling to emerge from the worst financial crisis.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s ruling alliance secured a landslide win in Sri Lanka’s November 14 general elections, shattering records of strong governments of the past and making history in the island’s ethnic minorities-dominated north, east, and hill country.

The left-leaning alliance of Sri Lanka's new leader has secured a landslide victory in the country's snap parliamentary elections. Official results show President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's National People's Power (NPP) coalition scored a two-thirds majority in parliament, with 159 seats.

Sri Lankans voted in a parliamentary election Thursday that is key for the country's new, Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party's power and follow through on promises of economic recovery.

In the past four years, the share of people living below the poverty line in Sri Lanka has risen to 25.9 per cent. The World Bank forecasts the economy to grow by just 2.2 per cent in 2024. Mr Dissanayake needs his alliance to win a two-thirds majority of 225 seats in the legislature to press forward with his reform package.

The working class will rapidly come into conflict with the JVP/NPP government, which while posturing as anti-establishment, is a right-wing communalist party committed to imposing IMF austerity.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Party won at least 123 of the 225 seats in parliament, according to partial results released by the Elections Commission.

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By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition won a thumping victory in a snap general election, gaining power to push through his plans to fight poverty and graft in the island nation recovering from a financial meltdown.