Thailand has elected a new head of government: Paetongtarn Shinawatra comes from a very wealthy clan. She will be the youngest prime minister of all time in the country.
For the second time in its history, Thailand will have a woman as its head of government: Paetongtarn Shinawatra, just 37 years old, chairwoman of the ruling Pheu Thai party and heiress to a wealthy dynasty, was elected in parliament this morning (local time) with a clear majority. She will thus be the youngest prime minister of all time in the Southeast Asian kingdom.
The election comes just two days after the Constitutional Court ousted Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin. Paetongtarn is a scion of the well-known Shinawatra clan: she is the daughter of billionaire and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the niece of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Both were in power for several years, but were then deposed by military coups and went into exile. However, the family still has many supporters in the highly polarized kingdom.
Only candidate
Paetongtarn, who studied in Great Britain, is only the second woman to lead the country after her aunt. She was already considered a new star in the Thai political sky for the 2023 parliamentary election and even campaigned while heavily pregnant. Next week she celebrates her 38th birthday.
The ruling coalition, which has a comfortable majority in parliament, nominated Paetongtarn as the only candidate on Thursday. The nomination came as a surprise after former Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri (75) had previously been considered the leading candidate. However, there was speculation that the politician was not in the best of health. According to reports, this was preceded by a meeting of the party leaders at the Shinawatras’ estate in Bangkok.
Paetongtarn’s father, one of the richest men in the country, had been in self-imposed exile since 2008. The media entrepreneur only returned to Thailand in August last year. In June he was charged with lèse majesté. Despite many legal problems, Thaksin is still considered an influential puppet master.
Coups and court decisions
The predecessor of the new head of government, Srettha (62), was removed from office on Wednesday as part of a lawsuit. Dozens of conservative senators had accused the head of government of violating ethical rules by appointing a minister with a criminal record. The Constitutional Court agreed – to the surprise of many. According to political observers, this was the fifth time that a government led by Pheu Thai was deposed by a coup or a court order.
In recent decades, Thailand has seen repeated coups, military governments and street protests by the democracy movement. Just last week, under pressure from conservative forces, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) – the actual winner of the May 2023 parliamentary election.
The party, which was particularly popular among young Thais and had campaigned for a change to the strict lese majeste law, was ousted by Pheu Thai after weeks of political turmoil and had to go into opposition. Reforming the law, which provides for long prison sentences for those who violate it, is still considered taboo. After its dissolution, the MFP recently re-established itself under a different name: People’s Party (PP).
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
