BANGKOK: Thailand’s king on Sunday formally named Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 37-year-old daughter of controversial billionaire former prime minister Thaksin, as Thailand’s new prime minister. Paetongtarn, the kingdom’s youngest prime minister in history, takes office after a court impeached the previous prime minister and dissolved the main opposition party, plunging Thailand’s still febrile political scene into a new round of turmoil. She is the third Shinawatra to become prime minister but will be hoping to avoid the fate of her father and aunt Yingluck, who were both ousted in a military coup. Paetongtarn received an official written order from King Maha Vajiralongkorn to form the government in a ceremony at the headquarters of the former pro-Thaksin TV station shortly after 9:30 a.m. (0230 GMT). Thaksin, 75, was a prominent participant in the ceremony, standing alongside Paetongtarn’s husband in the front row. She heads a coalition government led by her Thai Pheu party – the latest incarnation of the political movement founded by her father in the early 2000s – but including some pro-military groups that have long opposed Thaksin. Her promotion to the top job comes after the Royal Constitutional Court on Wednesday dismissed previous Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for breaching ethics rules by appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction. For more than 20 years, Thailand has been gripped by a struggle for supremacy between Thaksin and his allies and the kingdom’s conservative pro-military and pro-royal elite. Parties linked to the former telecoms tycoon and ex-Manchester City owner have repeatedly won elections, only to find their governments halted by coups and court rulings.
