Thailand’s parliament votes for PAETONGTARN SHINAWATRA to be next Prime Minister after court ousted previous PM

Sunday, August 18, 2024 - Thailand’s parliament voted on Friday, August 16 for Paetongtarn Shinawatra to be the country’s next prime minister, putting another member of the kingdom’s most famed and divisive political dynasty into the top job.

The vote came two days after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office.

Paetongtarn, 37, won 319 votes in the House of Representatives, after being nominated as the sole candidate by her Pheu Thai party’s ruling coalition to replace Srettha. She still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn before she can officially take office and appoint a Cabinet.

Paetongtarn will be Thailand’s second female prime minister, after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra and she is the youngest to hold the position.

Speaking to reporters at her party headquarters in Bangkok, Paetongtarn thanked her supporters and said she felt “honoured” by the decision.

“I will do my best in this position,” she said.

Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. Thaksin is one of Thailand’s most influential figures.

Paetongtarn’s aunt Yingluck was removed from office before the military seized power in a 2014 coup, and her father Thaksin went into self-imposed exile in 2006 for more than 15 years to escape corruption charges after the military toppled his government.

Thaksin, a telecoms billionaire and former owner of Manchester City Football Club, returned to Thailand from exile in August last year.

He has retained an outsized grip on Thai politics and many saw him as continuing to influence the Pheu Thai party, firstly through his sister Yingluck and now through his daughter.