Voters have handed Anura Kumara Dissanayake a significant win in a snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty.The party of Sri Lanka's new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took a seemingly unassailable lead,

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.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s coalition took an early lead in parliamentary elections seen as a test of the leftist leader’s ambitious pledges to combat corruption and change the terms of an unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout.

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.

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 in the island nation recovering from a financial meltdown.

A parliamentary majority will allow Anura Kumara Dissanayake to consolidate power and advance reforms.