Thailand’s parliament today elected the youngest prime minister in its history, 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra, just one day after the heir to the immensely wealthy family emerged in the spotlight amidst a power struggle that shows no signs of abating among the country’s elites.
The daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, the sole candidate for the premiership, was elected by parliament and is now facing a baptism of fire, just two days after her ally, Srettha Thavisin, was ousted from the prime minister’s office by the judiciary, which has played a central role in the two decades of turmoil the country has faced, intermittently.
With Paetongtarn in power, the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family is at stake, having faced its first electoral defeat in over two decades last year and needing to strike a deal with its adversaries in the military to form a government.
Paetongtarn will become the second female prime minister and the third member of the Shinawatra family to take the premiership, following her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, and her father, Thaksin, the most polarizing and influential politician in the country.
Paetongtarn won comfortably with 319 votes or nearly two-thirds of the parliament. She was not present in the assembly and watched the voting from her party’s headquarters, Pheu Thai.
Her first public comment on her victory was to post a photo of her meal – chicken with rice – on Instagram with the caption: “The first meal after I heard about the voting.”
Paetongtarn has never been part of a government, and the decision to enter the fray is a gamble for Pheu Thai and 75-year-old Thaksin, Reuters notes.
She will face challenges on many fronts, with the economy faltering, competition from a rival party intensifying, and Pheu Thai’s popularity waning, while simultaneously needing to implement her central program for cash distribution to the population amounting to 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion).
“The move by the Shinawatra family is risky,” says Natabporn Buamahakul of the Vero Advocacy consulting firm.
“It puts Thaksin’s daughter in the crosshairs and puts her in a vulnerable position.”