President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's promise to hold corrupt officials accountable has fueled his public support.

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.

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.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has drawn strong support from an unlikely source as he seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

Sri Lanka's president's coalition, the National People's Power (NPP) posted an early lead in a parliamentary election, local television channel Ada Derana said on Thursday.

Sri Lankans are voting in a parliamentary election that’s key for their new, Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party’s power and follow through on promises of economic recovery

Sri Lanka will vote in a snap general election on Thursday, called by new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to secure a majority in parliament to back his policies in the island nation struggling to recover from a crushing financial crisis.

Sri Lankans began voting Thursday in snap parliamentary elections, with new leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's party expected to secure a big majority to drive through economic reforms.The outgoing parliament was dominated by the party of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa -- the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP),

Anura Kumara Dissanayake got elected as the president in September, however, his National People's Power (NPP) coalition gained only three of 225 seats in the parliament.