The 37-year-old daughter of controversial billionaire former PM Thaksin, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was formally named as Thailand’s new prime minister by the Thai monarch on Sunday.
Thailand’s ever-fragile political environment is thrown into more instability when Paetongtarn, the youngest prime minister in the kingdom’s history, takes office following a court order to remove the previous premier and dissolve the main opposition party.
As the third Shinawatra to hold the position of prime minister, she will be hoping to escape what happened to her father and aunt Yingluck, who were overthrown by military coups.
Shortly after 9:30 am (0230 GMT), Paetongtarn was given the formal written order by King Maha Vajiralongkorn to form a cabinet in a ceremony held at the headquarters of a former pro-Thaksin TV station.
At the ceremony, Paetongtarn’s husband and 75-year-old Thaksin were among the notable guests in the front row.
She is in charge of a coalition administration that is led by her Pheu Thai party, which is the most recent iteration of the political movement her father started in the early 2000s, but also includes certain pro-military organizations that have long resisted Thaksin.
Her elevation to the top job came about after the kingdom’s Constitutional Court sacked previous premier Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday for breaching ethics rules by appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.
Over two decades, Thailand has been the focus of a power struggle between the conservative pro-military, pro-royalist elite and Thaksin and his allies.
Parties connected to the former Manchester City owner and telecom magnate have won elections on several occasions, but coups and court decisions have toppled their governments.
Paetongtarn is a relative newbie, having operated the family business’s hotel division until late 2022, when she entered politics in advance of the general election of that previous year, in which Pheu Thai unexpectedly lost to the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) for second place.After being approved by lawmakers on Friday, Paetongtarn acknowledged her lack of experience but said she was ready to take on the challenge of “improving the quality of lives and empowering all Thais”.
