Sri Lanka’s National People’s Power (NPP) party, led by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, secured a historic majority in the general election, winning 107 seats. With this sweeping victory, Dissanayake gains greater power to pursue anti-poverty reforms.

In the first major political test for President Anura Kumara Dissanayake's NPP, Sri Lanka on Thursday headed to elect a new parliament. Back in September, the ruling party failed to secure 50 percent of the vote in the presidential elections.

The party of Sri Lanka’s new Marxist-leaning president Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won a majority in parliament, providing a solid mandate for his economic revival program. Mr Dissanayake’s National People’s Power Party won at least 123 of the 225 seats in parliament, according to partial results released by the Elections Commission.