COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake leads early official results in Sri Lanka’s presidential election, according to tallies released on Sunday by the Election Commission, but he is still short of the 50% needed for victory.

Left-leaning politician Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been elected as Sri Lanka’s next president after he won the debt-ridden country’s first election since its economy collapsed in 2022.

Marxist lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake has won Sri Lanka’s presidential election as voters rejected the old political guard that has been widely accused of pushing the nation toward economic ruin