The 37-year-old Phaethongtarn Shinawatra is now the youngest prime minister in the history of Thailand. The heir of the wealthy Shinawatra family has emerged amidst a conflicting climate and power games among the country’s elite in Southeast Asia.
The daughter of Thaksin Shinawatra, the sole candidate for the premiership, was elected by parliament just two days after Srettha Thavisin was ousted from the prime minister’s position by a judicial decision. The latter plays a central role in the ongoing events and influences the political developments of the last two episodic decades.
With Phaethongtarn at the helm, the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family is at stake.
The newly elected prime minister will become the second female prime minister and the third member of the Shinawatra family to take power after her aunt Yingluck and her father Thaksin, the most polarizing and influential politician in the country.
In the voting, Phaethongtarn received 319 votes, or nearly 2/3 of the House. She was not present in parliament and watched the process from her party’s headquarters.
Phaethongtarn Shinawatra has never been a member of the government, and the decision to engage in the central stage is a “gamble” for the 75-year-old Thaksin, as noted by Reuters.
She will face challenges on many fronts as the economy falters, and competition from a rival party intensifies. At the same time, she will need to implement her central program to distribute cash amounting to 14.25 billion dollars to the population.