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.

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 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

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 and graft in the island nation recovering from a financial meltdown.

The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won a majority in parliament, according to official election results Friday, providing a solid mandate for his program for economic revival.

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.