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.

Voting begins in Sri Lanka's parliamentary election that is key for its new, Marxist-leaning president.

Sri Lanka holds a crucial parliamentary election as newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake aims to consolidate power and revive the economy

Sri Lanka is set to hold on Thursday its snap parliamentary election – first after the 2022 economic crisis – amid deployment of nearly 90,000 security personnel across the country

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.

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.

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.

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.