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.

By Uditha Jayasinghe and Sudipto Ganguly COLOMBO (Reuters) -Marxist-leaning Anura Kumara Dissanayake was leading Sri Lanka's presidential election with half the votes counted on Sunday, seeming to knock out the incumbent for the chance to lead the heavily indebted nation's fragile economic recovery.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s strong showing reveals voter weariness with leadership that has led to a national economic crisis and crushing hardship for many people.