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 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 votes Thursday in a second national election in as many months with a deeply divided opposition struggling to recover from a crushing defeat at presidential polls.

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,

Anura Kumara Dissanayake got elected as the president in September, however, his National People's Power (NPP) coalition gained only three of 225 seats in the parliament.