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 Lankans began voting on Thursday in a snap election to decide if the Indian Ocean island will give its new leftist president greater strength to help the poor as it recovers from a financial meltdown.

COLOMBO (Reuters) -Sri Lanka began voting in a snap election on Thursday which will determine if the island nation wants to empower its new, leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to push his pro-poor policies as it recovers from a financial meltdown.

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.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is looking to consolidate his party's power in Thursday's parliamentary election to help him implement his election pledges to solve the country's economic woes and foster good governance.

Uditha Devapriya and Umesh Moramudali on Sri Lanka’s ongoing political realignment.

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.

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 began in Sri Lanka's snap parliamentary election on Thursday,