Mahinda Rajapaksa will be sworn in as Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister for the fourth time at a historical Buddhist temple on Sunday, allowing the powerful Rajapaksa clan to consolidate its grip on the island nation’s politics.

The 74-year-old Sri Lanka People’s Party (SLPP) leader, who polled over 500,000 individual preference votes — the highest recorded by a candidate in the country’s history — 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 the general election, securing the two-thirds majority in Parliament needed to amend the Constitution to further consolidate the family’s firm grip on power for the next five years.

The party won in 145 constituencies, bagging a total of 150 seats with its allies, a two-thirds majority in the 225-member Parliament. It polled 6.8 million votes (59.9 per cent).
On Saturday, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 71, congratulated his elder brother Mahinda.

“I extend my warmest congratulations to Prime Minister @PresRajapaksa and all the candidates of the @PodujanaParty, who contested the recent General Elections and were elected to Parliament by popular vote and the National List,” the President tweeted ahead of the swearing-in on Sunday morning.

The cabinet of ministers will be sworn in on Monday, followed by the swearing-in of the state and deputy ministers, the Daily Mirror reported.

The new government has decided to restrict the size of the cabinet to 26, though it can be increased to 30.

Mahinda’s son Namal Rajapaksa, 34, has won the general election held on August 5 from Hambantota, the family bastion. Gotabaya had won the November presidential election on an SLPP ticket.