Paetongtarn Shinawatra Elected as Thai PM
Paetongtarn Shinawatra Elected as Thai PM
The Facts
On Friday, the parliament of Thailand elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra as its new prime minister after a court on Wednesday ousted her predecessor, Srettha Thavisin. Thavisin was found guilty of ethics violations.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.
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 aunt Yingluck.
The Spin
This new development is nothing but pure nepotism, and Pheu Thai is nothing but a mouthpiece for Thaksin. The royalist courts have 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.
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 and promise of prudent government and compromise, and will hopefully bring stability to Thailand.