(Bloomberg) -- Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s coalition took an early lead in parliamentary elections seen as a test of the leftist leader’s ambitious pledges to combat corruption and change the terms of an unpopular International Monetary Fund bailout.
With three of 22 polling districts declared, Dissanayake’s National People’s Power led with 64.5%, compared with 17.8% for Sajith Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya party, according to private broadcaster Adaderana on Friday. That translates to 16 and 3 parliamentary seats, respectively.
Dissanayake, 55, called for the early poll after his victory in the island nation’s presidential election on Sept. 21, a rebuke of Sri Lanka’s political elite following a historic debt default in 2022. A $3 billion IMF bailout the next year came with tough austerity measures that Dissanayake’s party said increased the economic burden on the poor.
“The NPP expects a strong mandate for the parliament,” Dissanayake said on Thursday after casting his vote. “We are confident that the people will give it to us. A strong parliament is sufficient for us. The laws and bills that we bring will be beneficial for the people.”
Top of the new president’s agenda is rewriting parts of the deal with the IMF. Dissanayake has said he’s committed to continuing the funding facility struck with the Washington-based lender but wants to amend unpopular austerity measures and reduce taxes.
Dissanayake leads a coalition, the National People’s Power, which held just three of the 225 seats in the dissolved legislature. There have been no opinion polls on voters’ preferences, but political analysts expect the NPP to capture a parliamentary majority, an outcome that would give it the power to pass new legislation and revamp the bureaucracy.
--With assistance from Asantha Sirimanne.
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