Thailand Elects Former Leader Thaksin's Daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra As Youngest-Ever Prime Minister
In a surprise move, Thailand's parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a newcomer to politics, as the country's youngest-ever prime minister on Friday.
This sudden development came just a day after she emerged as a key figure in the intense power struggle between Thailand's rival elite factions, catapulting her to the forefront of the country's political scene.
The new Prime Minister who is the 37-year-old daughter of political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra sailed through a house vote, Reuters reports.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra secured a landslide victory with 319 votes, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the parliamentary votes.
Notably, she was absent from the parliament and observed the voting process from her Pheu Thai Party's headquarters.
As the newly elected Prime Minister, Paetongtarn will become Thailand's second female leader and the third member of the Shinawatra family to hold the position, following in the footsteps of her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra and father Thaksin Shinawatra, the country's most influential and divisive politician.
The stakes are high for Paetongtarn, as her leadership may determine the legacy and political future of the Shinawatra family, whose populist movement suffered its first electoral defeat in over 20 years last year and was forced to form an unlikely alliance with the military to secure power.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra is poised to confront a multitude of challenges as Thailand's new Prime Minister, including a struggling economy, increasing competition from rival parties, and dwindling popularity for Pheu Thai.
The party has yet to fulfill its flagship promise of a 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion) cash handout program, which could further erode public trust. With these pressing issues, Paetongtarn's leadership will be tested on multiple fronts, requiring her to address the economic woes, revitalize her party's image, and deliver on its key campaign promises.
Her first public comment on the win was posting on Instagram a picture of her lunch - chicken rice - with the caption: "The first meal after listening to the vote."
SaharaReporters earlier reported that Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was ousted from office following a court ruling that deemed him to have breached the constitution.
The verdict comes on the heels of a similar ruling last week, where the same court disbanded the influential Move Forward Party, which secured the majority of seats in the previous year's election, and imposed a 10-year political ban on its leaders.
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