Sri Lankan President Dissanayake's party wins majority, boosting his legislative power. Focus shifts to poverty and corruption reforms.

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.

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 Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition won a landslide victory in snap legislative elections, results showed Friday, as voters repudiated establishment parties blamed for triggering an economic 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.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s coalition has secured a decisive victory in Sri Lanka’s snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative powers to pursue policies to revive a country in the grip of a financial crisis.

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.