Patetongtarn Shinawatra elected youngest prime minister in Thailand's history

Patetongtarn, 37-year-old, became Thailand's youngest prime minister and only the second woman to hold that position after her aunt Yingluk.

It was named just two days after former Prime Minister Srettha Thavsin was dismissed by the country's Constitutional Court. Both are from Thailand's Pheu Party, which came in second in the 2023 elections, but formed a coalition government.

Patetongtar faces difficult duty to revive Thailand's stalled economy and avoid military paws and court interventions that have brought down the past four governments led by her party.

She will become Thailand's second leading wife and third person from the Shinawatra family to lead the country after her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, and father Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin is the most influential and polarizing politician in the country.

Patetongtarn won easily, after receiving 319 votes for, which is almost two-thirds. She was not present at the Parliamentary session and looked at her from the central offices of Paris Phew, Thailand.

Its first public comment after the victory was to post a photo from her lunch, chicken rice with the inscription: “

Her father, Thaksin, is one of the best-known political figures in the country and was ousted by power by a military stamp in 2006. He is seen by many as de facto leader of Pheu party.

Patetongtarn joined politics in 2021 when the Phew party announced it would lead a comprehensive advisory commission. She was appointed chairman of the Pheu party last year after being appointed among the three party candidates for the country's prime minister.

During the election campaign, she accepted and has family ties with the party, but insisted that she was not just a representative of her father.

It's not my father's shadow. I am my father's daughter, always and always, but I make my own decisions”, she told reporters. /rel/