COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's coalition, the National People's Power (NPP), was set for victory in a snap general election, results from the Indian Ocean island's poll body showed on Friday (Nov 15).

Sri Lankans are voting 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.

Sri Lanka began counting votes cast on Thursday in a snap general election that will decide if the Indian Ocean island nation will give its new leftist president greater legislative power to help the poor as it recovers from a financial meltdown.