Sri Lanka's main Marxist politician, Anura Kumara Dissanayaka, leads the presidential election, likely becoming the first leftist head of state. With 58% of postal ballots counted, his victory seems certain.

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Millions of Sri Lankans were casting their votes on Saturday to select a president who will face the task of bolstering the South Asian country's fragile economic recovery following its worst financial crisis in decades.

Dissanayake won about 53 per cent of the million votes counted so far in the election, Sri Lanka’s Election Commission data showed. Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa was second at 22 per cent, ahead