President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's promise to hold corrupt officials accountable has fueled his public support.

Sri Lanka's president's coalition, the National People's Power (NPP) posted an early lead in a parliamentary election, local television channel Ada Derana said on Thursday.

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.

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.

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

With Sri Lanka's economic recovery hanging in balance, President Dissanayake hopes voters give him a strong mandate for his policies to reduce taxes and boost welfare.

Voting begins in Sri Lanka's parliamentary election that is key for its new, Marxist-leaning president.

Sri Lanka will vote in a snap general election on Thursday, called by new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to secure a majority in parliament to back his policies in the island nation struggling to recover from a crushing financial crisis.

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.