Paetongtarn Shinawatra Elected as Thai PM

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Facts

  • On Friday, Thailand's parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as its new prime minister after a court Wednesday ousted her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin, who was found guilty of ethics violations.[1]
  • The 37-year-old Shinawatra helms the Pheu Thai party and is the country's second female prime minister and the youngest to be elected. Shinawatra comes from a political lineage that includes two other prime ministers, her father, Thaksin, and her aunt, Yingluck.[2]
  • Shinawatra was confirmed by a 319-145 vote, with 27 lawmakers abstaining. In her first remarks after her nomination, Shinawatra expressed sadness at Thavisin's fate and promised to do her 'best to make the country go forward.'[3][4]
  • The new prime minister has never held political office and has mostly been involved with her family's business operations, but campaigned for Pheu Thai in the 2023 elections that were won by the progressive Move Forward Party.[5]
  • Move Forward was dissolved by the Constitutional Court nine days ago over its proposal to amend the country's laws against denigrating the monarchy and had its leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, disqualified by the court from the prime ministerial race.[4][6]
  • Thaksin was ousted in a military coup in 2006, only to return to the country last year. Pheu Thai managed to negotiate an alliance with pro-monarchy and pro-military parliamentary groups in order to allow Pheu Thai's Srettha Thavisin to become prime minister.[7]

Sources: [1]Associated Press, [2]Bangkokpost, [3]Asia Times, [4]Reuters, [5]Al Jazeera, [6]The Diplomat and [7]France 24.

Narratives

  • Left narrative, as provided by Washington Post. This is pure nepotism, and Pheu Thai is nothing but a mouthpiece for Thaksin. The royalist courts dissolved the country's popular progressive opposition before parliament appointed an inexperienced figurehead to helm the nation in an arrangement that was surely forged in a smoke-filled room. The establishment cannot ignore the voice of Thai voters forever.
  • Right narrative, as provided by The Rio Times. In a country hungry for change, Pheu Thai has struck a middle path between the status quo and the radically progressive agenda of groups such as Move Forward. The fact that there was consensus around a member of the Shinawatra family, which has never had a good relationship with the establishment, points to the potential of prudent government and compromise, and will hopefully bring stability to Thailand.