Sri Lankans voted in a parliamentary election Thursday that is key for the country's new, Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party's power and follow through

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.

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.