Paetongtarn will immediately face challenges on multiple fronts, with the ailing economy and the popularity of her Pheu Thai Party | Source: Bloomberg
Thailand’s parliament on Friday elected political newcomer Paetongtarn Shinawatra as the youngest prime minister, just a day after she stepped into the spotlight amid an unrelenting power struggle between the country’s warring elites.
The 37-year-old daughter of divisive political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra easily won a vote in the House of Representatives and now faces a baptism of fire, just two days after ally Srettha Thavisin was ousted as prime minister by a judiciary that played a key role in Thailand’s two decades of unrest.
For Paetongtarn, the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family is at stake. Their once-unstoppable populist family suffered its first election defeat in more than two decades last year and had to make a deal with its bitter enemies in the military to form a government.
Paetongtarn, who has never served in government, will become Thailand’s second female prime minister and the third Shinawatra to hold the top job, after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra and her 75-year-old father Thaksin, the country’s most influential and polarizing politician.
Paetongtarn won with 319 votes, or almost two-thirds of the house. She was not present in parliament and watched the vote from Pheu Thai’s headquarters.
She faces immediate challenges on multiple fronts as the economy falters, her Pheu Thai party’s popularity wanes and she still has to implement her flagship 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion) cash handout program.
Hostile climate
The fall of Srettha, who had been in power for less than a year, will be a painful reminder of the hostility Paetongtarn can face. Thailand has been locked in a tumultuous cycle of coups and court rulings that have dissolved political parties and toppled governments and prime ministers.
The Shinawatras and their business associates have borne the brunt of the crisis, with parties with broad appeal now pitted against a powerful group of conservatives, wealthy families and royalist generals with close ties to key institutions.
Nine days ago, the same court that dismissed Srettha over a cabinet appointment also dissolved the anti-establishment Move Forward Party – the winner of the 2023 election – over a campaign to change a law banning insulting the crown, which the court said could undermine the constitutional monarchy. The party has since formed a new opposition party.
The unrest of the past few days also signals the breakdown of a fragile truce between Thaksin and his rivals within the establishment and the old military guard. That truce saw the tycoon make a dramatic return in 2023 after 15 years in exile, with ally Srettha becoming prime minister the same day.
The decision to bring Paetongtarn into play at such a critical time has surprised many analysts, who had expected Thaksin to delay his dynasty and not expose Paetongtarn to the kind of fighting that led to his downfall and that of his sister Yingluck, who both fled abroad to avoid prison after their governments were ousted by the military.
First publication: Aug 16, 2024 | 11:38 AM IST