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 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.

The outgoing parliament was dominated by the party of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa -- the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), or the People's Front -- but it has since splintered. Rajapaksa is not contesting, but his son Namal, a former sports ...