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.

It is a first major test for the ruling National People's Power (NPP) party, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Here is why the upcoming parliamentary election is so significant for newly-elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

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 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.

"We believe that this is a crucial election that will mark a turning point in Sri Lanka," President Dissanayake told reporters after voting in the capital Colombo. The man he defeated in the presidential elections,