Sri Lankans are voting in a parliamentary election Thursday that is key for the country's new Marxist-leaning president to consolidate his party's power and follow through on promises of economic recovery. President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won the presidential election on September 21 in a victory that marked a rejection of the traditional political parties, which have governed the island nation since its independence from British rule in 1948. However, Dissanayake's failure to secure more than 50 per cent of the votes has fuelled concerns over his party's outlook in Thursday's election. His National People's Power party must increase its votes significantly from the 42 per cent it won in the presidential election if it is to acquire a minimum of 113 seats to take control of the 225-member Parliament. The biggest challenge for the NPP which was founded in 2019 and is a relative newcomer on Sri Lanka's political scene is that many of its candidates are new faces in politics ...