Thailand swears in Shinawatra heiress as youngest prime minister

Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, known by her nickname “Ung Ing” and daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, gestures as she arrives at Government House in Bangkok on September 6, 2024, ahead of a royal oath-taking ceremony for her cabinet. (Photo by Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP)

BANGKOK, Thailand — Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the heiress of Thailand’s most famous political dynasty, was sworn in as prime minister on Friday, capping a month of turmoil in which her predecessor was thrown out of office and the main opposition party dissolved.

Paetongtarn, the youngest daughter of controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, took the oath in a closed-door ceremony with King Maha Vajiralongkorn around 6:15 pm (1115 GMT), officially becoming Thailand’s youngest prime minister.

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The 38-year-old is the third member of the Shinawatra political dynasty to lead the country in the past 23 years, following her father and her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra.

The king congratulated her new cabinet, saying in a speech broadcast on television news: “I trust that you will perform your duties with excellence.”

Paetongtarn replaces Srettha Thavisin, from her Pheu Thai party, after his shock dismissal in mid-August by the kingdom’s Constitutional Court for appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.

She takes the helm of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy with growth and investment stagnating as political instability lingers.

Her 36-member cabinet includes eight women, a record, according to public broadcaster Thai PBS.

Paetongtarn, a relative newcomer to politics, urged her party’s enemies on Thursday to give her a chance.

“Please be kind to me, please don’t throw any lawsuits on me, I am trying my best,” she told reporters.

A power struggle between Thaksin and the country’s conservative royalist-military establishment has dominated Thai politics for decades.

Thaksin, a 75-year-old telecoms billionaire and one-time Manchester City owner, is loved by millions of poorer Thais for his social welfare policies in the early 2000s.

However, he has long been despised by elites who accuse him of corruption and wanting to smash Thailand’s social order.

Parties linked to Thaksin finished first in every election from 2001 until last year but their governments were regularly upended by court orders and military coups.

Thaksin was ousted by the army in 2006 and his sister Yingluck in 2014, both going into self-exile abroad.

Headwinds

Thaksin critics have long accused him of pulling the strings, even while he was out of the country, and Paetongtarn will be watched closely for signs of his influence.

“That’s the headwind for Paetongtarn, she has to prove herself that she has her own agenda, she has her own will… and that’s very difficult,” Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, an analyst from Chulalongkorn University, told AFP.

Thaksin returned from exile last year on the day Pheu Thai secured the premiership in a coalition deal with former foes in pro-military parties, leading many to suspect he had cut a backroom deal.

He was immediately sentenced to eight years in jail on graft and abuse of power charges dating back to his rule. He swiftly had his sentence cut and was pardoned last month without doing any time in jail.

As well as sacking Srettha, the Constitutional Court also dissolved the popular reformist Move Forward Party (MFP) last month.

MFP beat Pheu Thai into second place in last year’s general election on pledges to reduce the military’s influence, break up powerful business monopolies and reform royal insult laws.