Paetongtarn Shinawatra becomes Thailand’s youngest PM after winning parliament vote

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Paetongtarn Shinawatra was elected as Thailand’s next prime minister after she won the majority of votes in the House of Representatives on Friday.

The 37-year-old is the youngest leader to take the prime minister office. Ms Paetongtarn, who is the daughter of former Thai prime minister and billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra and head of the ruling Pheu Thai party, had been expected to receive parliamentary approval.

Her majority win comes just days after former prime minister Srettha Thavisin was removed from office by a Constitutional Court’s order.

He was removed on Wednesday for briefly appointing a convicted lawyer to his cabinet in April this year, only to see him quit in May after the decision sparked a furore.

Pichit Chuenban was jailed for six months on contempt of court charges in 2008 for allegedly seeking to bribe a judge in a case involving Thaksin Shinawatra, founder of Mr Srettha’s Pheu Thai Party.

Mr Thaksin was convicted last year of corruption and defaming the monarchy and sentenced to eight years in prison but was released on parole in February.

Although Mr Pichit had served his sentence when he was made minister, the court ruled, his behaviour was dishonest.

Ms Paetongtarn is on path to become Thailand’s second woman prime minister and the country’s third leader from the Shinawatra family if the parliament vote approves her.

She has acknowledged her family ties in Thailand’s leadership legacy and insisted that she is not just her father’s proxy. “It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions,” she had said on the campaign trail for Pheu Thai.

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