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Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of former leader-Thaksin Shinawatra, was voted in on Friday by Thailand's parliament to become the next prime minister.
The vote to install the 37-year-old daughter of ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra came two days after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed another prime minister from office, in a surprise decision that plunged the kingdom into further political uncertainty and raised fresh concern over the erosion of democratic rights.
Paetongtarn won 319 votes in the House of Representatives, after being nominated as the sole candidate by her Pheu Thai party’s ruling coalition to replace outgoing prime minister Srettha Thavisin. She still needs to be endorsed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn before she can officially take office and appoint a Cabinet.
Thaksin is one of Thailand’s most influential figures: his economic and populist policies enabled him to build a political machine that has dominated the country’s politics for the past two decades despite his ouster in a 2006 coup.
His youngest daughter will be Thailand’s second woman prime minister, after her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra - Thaksin’s sister.
Speaking to reporters Friday at her party headquarters in Bangkok, Paetongtarn thanked her supporters and said she felt “honored” by the decision.
