Mahinda Rajapaksa to take oath as Sri Lanka's PM for 4th time on Aug 9

The new government has decided to restrict the size of the Cabinet to 26, though it can be increased up to 30 in terms of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution

Sri Lanka's former president Mahinda Rajapaksa will be sworn in as the country's new prime minister for the fourth time at a historic Buddhist temple on Sunday, consolidating the hard-line political dynasty's grip on power.

The 74-year-old Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP) leader, who polled over 500,000 individual preference votes -- the highest ever recorded by a candidate in the history of elections -- will take the oath of office for the ninth Parliament at the sacred Rajamaha Viharaya in Kelaniya, a north Colombo suburb, according to an official statement.

The SLPP, led by Mahinda, registered a landslide victory in