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.

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.

Here is why the upcoming parliamentary election is so significant for newly-elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is looking to consolidate his party’s power in Thursday’s parliamentary election to help him implement his election pledges to solve the country’s economic woes and foster good governance.

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.

People in Sri Lanka are voting in snap parliamentary elections, barely seven weeks after choosing a new president. More than 8,800 candidates are in the fray in an election marked by a low-key campaign.

The election comes at a breakthrough time for Sri Lankans, as the island nation battles a comeback from its worst economic meltdown of 2022.

Colombo: Voting for the 2024 Parliamentary Election commenced at 7 am on Thursday in Sri Lanka in snap elections called by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who won the polls this September, local media reported.

Sri Lankans began voting on Thursday in a snap election to decide if the Indian Ocean island will give its new leftist president greater strength to help the poor as it recovers from a financial meltdown.