Mr Dissanayake took power in September’s presidential elections on a promise to combat graft. Read more at straitstimes.com.

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 began counting votes cast on Thursday in a snap general election that will decide if the Indian Ocean island nation will give its new leftist president greater legislative power to help the poor as it recovers from a financial meltdown.