COLOMBO: Sri Lankans handed Anura Kumara Dissanayake a thumping win in a snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty and fight graft as the country recovers from a financial meltdown.

Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake achieved a historic two-thirds majority in the parliamentary elections. The party won 159 seats, marking the first such victory under the proportional representation system.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake thanked voters Friday for delivering his leftist coalition a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections that repudiated establishment parties blamed for triggering an economic crisis.

Sri Lanka's National People's Power (NPP) party, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, secured a majority in the parliamentary snap elections on Friday. The NPP won 107 seats with nearly 62% of the vote,

The win gives leftist president Anura Kumara Dissanayake greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty and fight graft.

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