The sweeping mandate gives leftist president Anura Kumara Dissanayake the legislative power to push through his plans to fight poverty and graft.

Securing a parliamentary majority will be crucial for Dissanayake to implement his agenda fully, as executive power alone does not permit the appointment of a full cabinet or the passage of significant economic policies.

Sri Lankans began voting on Thursday in a snap Parliamentary election, widely seen as an attempt by new Leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to seek a clear mandate to push his pro-poor welfare policies.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's sweeping coalition election win this week underlined widening support for his leftist policies, but he faces the test of steering the nation's recovery from a financial crisis with an inexperienced set of lawmakers.

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 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

The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has taken a large lead in early results from the parliamentary elections, in an apparent solid mandate for his program f

The National People's Power alliance of Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake swept to power after a snap parliamentary election in which voters handed the left-leaning alliance a landslide victory.

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.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s coalition won a parliamentary supermajority in the country’s election, underscoring the depth of the support for the leftist leader who pledges to combat corruption and change the terms of an unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout.