The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won a majority in parliament, according to official election results Friday, providing a solid mandate for his program for economic revival. Dissanayake’s National ...

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.

The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning President Anura Kumara Dissanayake took a large lead Friday in early results from the parliamentary elections, in an apparent solid mandate for his program for economic revival.