Sri Lanka's Marxist-leaning leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake grabbed a commanding early lead on Sunday in his bid to become the next president of the debt-ridden country seeking to elect a leader to bolster its fragile economic recovery.

Voting has ended Saturday in Sri Lanka's presidential election as the country seeks to recover from the worst economic crisis in its history and the resulting political upheaval. The election, contested by 38 candidates,

Roughly 17 million Sri Lankans are heading to the polls in the first election since one of the country’s worst financial meltdowns, with meaningful repercussions for its economic recovery. After the nation’s debt default in 2022,