Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has steered his left-leaning coalition to a landslide victory in a snap parliamentary election.

Dissanayake took office in September with his country sunk in an economic crisis. He called for a rethink of austerity measures that have hit Sri Lankans hard.

In Thursday's vote, National People's Power won a majority of 159 seats out of 225. It had just three before the election.

A supporter said, "We expect our president to bring justice to poor people."

Two years ago, Sri Lanka suspended debt repayments to international creditors, effectively putting it in default.

Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe implemented austerity measures, in the shape of tax hikes and higher electricity prices.

Dissanayake clinched September's presidential election by calling for a review of those policies. His thumping election win hands him a much stronger power base.