Sri Lanka votes today in a second national election in as many months with a deeply divided opposition struggling to recover from a crushing defeat at presidential polls.

The country's main private sector lobby, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce ... 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.

Sri Lanka's new leftist leader has drawn strong support from an unlikely source as he seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake seeks to expand his three parliamentary seats to a house majority in elections on Thursday.

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.

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.

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.