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.

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. Dissanayake, aims to secure a majority in parliament to put forward his policies to revive the island nation from its financial crisis.