“Paetongtarn Shinawatra Elected as Thailand’s Youngest Prime Minister, Continuing Family Legacy”

On Friday, Thailand’s Parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of the controversial former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, as the nation’s new prime minister. At just 37 years old, Paetongtarn has become Thailand’s youngest leader and the second female prime minister, following in the footsteps of her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra. Her election marks the third time a member of the Shinawatra family has held the office of prime minister, following her father and aunt, both of whom have experienced political exile.

Paetongtarn was confirmed as prime minister by a parliamentary vote of 319 in favor, 145 against, with 27 abstentions. The voting process, conducted publicly, saw Members of Parliament casting their votes individually over the course of an hour. Despite not being an elected lawmaker herself, Paetongtarn, as the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai party, was eligible to be a candidate for prime minister and secured a majority of the votes in the ongoing session.

Her election comes shortly after the previous prime minister was removed from office by the Constitutional Court for an ethics violation just two days earlier. Paetongtarn’s rise to power is closely linked to the enduring influence of her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, one of Thailand’s most popular yet polarizing political figures. Thaksin, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006 and later returned from exile, is widely regarded as the de facto leader of Pheu Thai, the latest in a series of political parties associated with him.

Paetongtarn’s public entry into politics began in 2021 when she was appointed to lead an inclusion advisory committee within the Pheu Thai party. Last year, she was named the party’s leader and one of its three prime ministerial candidates ahead of the elections. Her leadership of Pheu Thai and subsequent rise to the premiership is seen as a continuation of her family’s significant political legacy in Thailand.

Despite her close ties to her father, Paetongtarn has emphasized her independence as a leader. While campaigning for Pheu Thai, she acknowledged her family’s influence but insisted she was not merely a proxy for her father. “It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she stated in an interview, signaling her intent to carve out her own path in Thailand’s political landscape.