By By Muminat Ajide
Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been elected as Thailand’s youngest-ever prime minister, marking the return of the Shinawatra family to power after dominating Thai politics for the past two decades.
On Friday, Thailand’s parliament voted for the 37-year-old to succeed former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, who was removed from office by the Constitutional Court for ethics violations in a cabinet appointment just two days prior, according to Aljazeera.
She secured 319 votes out of the 493 seats in the House of Representatives, nominated as the sole candidate by her Pheu Thai party’s ruling coalition to replace Srettha. Formal endorsement from King Maha Vajiralongkorn is pending before she can assume office and form a cabinet.
Paetongtarn is the youngest person and the second woman after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra to hold this office.
Paetongtarn, the youngest child of 75-year-old billionaire Thaksin, is the founder of the Pheu Thai party. Prior to entering politics three years ago, she was involved in managing the hotel division of her family’s business empire.
Her father, Thaksin, became prime minister of the Thai Rak Thai Party in 2001, but he was deposed in a military coup in 2006.
Her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, became prime minister in 2011, but she was removed by the Constitutional Court in 2014 after dismissing Thawil Pliensri from the National Security Council in 2011. Subsequently, in 2014, another military government took over, facing a similar fate eight years later.
