Sri Lankans headed to the polls early Thursday to elect a new parliament in a bid for stability and reform amid an ongoing economic crisis. Leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, elected in September,

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 Lankans began voting on Thursday in a snap election to decide if the Indian Ocean island will give its new leftist president greater strength to help the poor as it recovers from a financial meltdown.