Sri Lankans have voted 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

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the presidential candidate from National People's Power, addresses his supporters during an election campaign rally ahead of presidential election, on the outskirts of Colombo, Sri Lanka, September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer

The left-leaning coalition of newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won 159 of the legislature's 225 seats

The NPP won 107 seats, receiving almost 62 per cent or 6.8 million votes in Thursday’s election, putting them past the majority mark in the parliament, latest results on the Election Commission of Sri Lanka‘s website showed. A two-third majority appeared within reach of the coalition.

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.

Party of Sri Lanka's new Marxist-leaning president is leading in parliamentary elections, results show. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events

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. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake called for snap a general election in September to seek a mandate to take forward his policies in the island nation struggling to emerge from a severe financial crisis.

The National People’s Power won a parliamentary election that will allow the country’s new president to unroll his reform agenda, including broader welfare assistance.