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

Sri Lanka holds a snap election on Thursday which will determine if the South Asian island nation wants to empower its new, leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to push his anti-poverty policies as it recovers from a financial meltdown.

Sri Lanka's President and National People's Power (NPP) party leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake meets his party supporters after casting his vote on the day of the parliamentary election in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 14, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage

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.

As many as 196 members are to be elected from the 22 districts based on the proportional representation system while 29 would be elected from the cumulative votes polled national list to provide a 225-member Parliament for a five-year term.

Colombo: Voting for the 2024 Parliamentary Election in Sri Lanka took place on Thursday. The counting of votes began immediately after the polling ended at 4 pm. The snap elections were called by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake,

Colombo: The ruling National People's Power party led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is poised for a sweeping victory in the Sri Lankan parliamentary election held on Thursday. As of 11 pm local time,

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.

Strong support that Dissanayake secured in the presidential election will likely stay with his party in Thursday’s election, analysts say

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.