Thailand’s parliament elected its youngest ever prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, on Friday, just days after the sacking of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
Here you can find out more about Paetongtarn and the events in Thailand:
Why was Srettha Thavisin removed as Prime Minister?
This year, the Constitutional Court judges voted 6-3 to uphold a petition from 40 senators seeking the removal of Srettha from the Pheu Thai Party.
Senators had complained about Srettha’s appointment of former lawyer Pichit Chuenban, who was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court in 2008 after being accused of attempting to bribe court officials with 2 million baht ($55,218) in a paper bag.
The senators argued that Srettha’s appointment of Pichit did not meet ethical and moral standards.
Critics also speculated that Pichit’s ties to billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra, who founded the Pheu Thai party in 2007, helped him rise to office.
Srettha was officially removed from office by the Constitutional Court in Bangkok on Wednesday. He is the fourth Thai prime minister in 16 years to be removed from office by the Constitutional Court.
Who is the new Prime Minister?
Paetongtarn, 37, is the youngest child of 75-year-old billionaire Thaksin, the founder of the Pheu Thai party, of which Srettha was also a member.
Paetongtarn was easily elected on Friday because her party and its allies hold 314 of the 493 seats in parliament and she needs the votes of at least half of the current MPs to become prime minister.
She studied at the conservative elite Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.
Paetongtarn is known by her nickname Ung-Ing. Before entering politics three years ago, she helped run the hotel arm of her family’s business empire.
Her political career began in 2021 when she became chair of the Pheu Thai Party’s Advisory Committee on Inclusion and Innovation.
She gave birth to her second child two weeks before the 2023 elections, in which she was considered the favored candidate.
Paetongtarn is the third person from her family to hold the country’s highest office. Her father Thaksin became prime minister of the Thai Rak Thai party in 2001 until he was overthrown in a military coup in 2006.
Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra became prime minister in 2011 until she was ousted by the Constitutional Court in 2014 after she dismissed Thawil Pliensri from the National Security Council in 2011. Another military coup followed shortly thereafter in 2014 after months of political unrest in Thailand.
Both Thaksin and Yingluck left Thailand and went into self-imposed exile to avoid arrest until Thaksin returned to Thailand in August 2023.
Paetongtarn is not only the youngest person to hold this office, but also Thailand’s second female prime minister after her aunt.
What is the political situation in Thailand?
Paetongtarn’s appointment came amid a protracted struggle between the pro-royalist military establishment and populist parties linked to the Pheu Thai Party.
After the army seized power in a coup in 2014, army chief General Prayuth Chan-o-cha said it had intervened to end bitter political divisions and dysfunction within the government. In 2017, the military government introduced a new constitution.
The military remained in control until 2019, when the first elections were held after a long delay.
Under Srettha, the Pheu Thai Party allied itself in 2023 with the same military that had overthrown its government in 2014.
Previously, the self-proclaimed “pro-democracy” Pheu Thai Party had formed a coalition with the Move Forwards Party (MPF), but three months after the 2023 elections, the MPF left the coalition.
The MFP, which is critical of the monarchy, had won the most seats in the 2023 election but was blocked from forming a government by a military-appointed Senate. The Pheu Thai Party subsequently formed the government.
The Constitutional Court dissolved the MFP on August 7 of this year and barred its board members from political activity for ten years because it had promised to change the strict laws on defamation of the royal family.
What are the guidelines for Paetongtarn?
When she campaigned for prime minister last year, Paetongtarn promised, among other things, a reduction in public transport fares in Bangkok, an expansion of health insurance and a doubling of the daily minimum wage.
In her first term, Paetongtarn will face Thailand’s ailing economy, her party’s dwindling popularity and a possible strengthening of the opposition, which has reformed as the Peoples’ Party since the MPF was dissolved.
