Only two days after the Constitutional Court deposed Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the kingdom has elected a new head of government: 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra chairwoman of the ruling Pheu Thai party and heiress of a wealthy dynasty, won a vote in parliament this morning (local time) with a clear majority. She will youngest Prime Minister of the kingdom of all time.
Second woman as head of state
The election comes just two days after the Removal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin by the Constitutional Court. Paetongtarn is a scion of the well-known Shinawatra clan: she is the daughter of billionaire and former head of government Thaksin Shinawatra and the niece of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Both were in power for several years, but were then ousted by military coups and went into exile. However, the family still has many supporters in the highly polarized kingdom.
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 its only candidate on Thursday. Nomination came as a surprise, after former Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri (75) was previously considered the leading candidate. However, there was speculation that the politician was not in the best of health. This was reportedly preceded by a meeting of the party leaders at the Shinawatras’ residence in Bangkok.
Father was in exile
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.
The predecessor of the new head of government, Srettha (62), was arrested on Wednesday as part of a lawsuit filed by his Removed from office 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 had been deposed by a coup or a court order.
Street protests of the democracy movement
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).