Voters have handed Anura Kumara Dissanayake a significant win in a snap general election, giving its new leftist president greater legislative power to pursue policies to alleviate poverty.The party of Sri Lanka's new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took a seemingly unassailable lead,

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's coalition, the National People's Power (NPP), is set to win a majority in a snap general election, results from the Indian Ocean island's poll body showed on Friday.

A former agriculture minister and long-time member of parliament, Dissanayake came into spotlight by distancing himself from the political elite, presenting himself as an outsider with the ability to address Sri Lanka’s financial crisis.