Sri Lankan president's coalition wins election in landslide

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's leftist coalition won a thumping victory in a snap general election, gaining power to push through his plans to fight poverty in the island nation recovering from a financial meltdown.

Dissanayake's Marxist-leaning National People's Power (NPP) coalition won 137 seats of 196 for which direct elections were held, a two-thirds majority, Friday's ballot counting showed. Local media projected its tally would cross 150 in the 225-member parliament after more seats are distributed under a proportional seat distribution system.

That would give Dissanayake sweeping powers to even abolish the contentious executive presidency as he has planned.

While the clear mandate strengthens political stability in the South Asian country, some uncertainty on policy direction remains due to Dissanayake's promises to try and tweak the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue programme that bailed the country out of its economic crisis, analysts said.

Dissanayake, a political outsider in a country dominated by family parties for decades, comfortably won the island's presidential election in September.

But his coalition had just three seats in parliament before Thursday's snap election, prompting him to dissolve it and seek a fresh mandate.

The NPP secured almost 62 per cent or almost 7 million votes in Thursday's election, up from the 42 per cent Dissanayake won in September, indicating that he had drawn more widespread support including from minorities and built on his victory.

Voters directly elect 196 members to parliament from 22 constituencies under a proportional representation system. The remaining 29 seats will be distributed according to the island-wide proportional vote obtained by each party.