Thailand’s king has formally named heiress Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a prominent businesswoman and daughter of telecoms magnate Thaksin Shinawatra, as the country’s new prime minister. Paetongtarn, 37, is Thailand’s youngest ever prime minister and takes office after parliament gave the green light on Friday, amid political turmoil following the dismissal of the previous prime minister and the court-ordered dissolution of the main opposition party.
The new prime minister, a member of the center-right Pheu Thai party, is also a member of a well-known political “dynasty.” She is the third Shinawatra to lead a Thai government, a post she has coveted for some time despite the ‘pasts’ of her powerful family predecessors. Her father, Thaksin Shinawatra, still considered one of the country’s most influential politicians, was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, and her aunt, Yingluck Shinawatra, also held the same post in 2014. Both, however, were ousted from power in military coups.
Paetongtarn received the official order signed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn to form a government during a public ceremony on Sunday morning.
Thailand’s new prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, has promised the nation that she will work with an “open heart” for the kingdom’s development and has called on her fellow citizens to contribute to this effort. “As head of government, I will work with parliament with an open heart, open to all ideas, to contribute to the country’s development,” Shinawatra said in her first comments since being officially tasked with forming a government by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.