PAETONGTARN SHINAWATRA became the 31st prime minister of Thailand on Sunday August 18, two days after the country’s parliament elected her, marking yet another change in the government strongly influenced by the country’s military and royalists.

At 37, she is the youngest prime minister, second woman to hold the post, and third from her family, after her father Thaksin Shinawatra (2001-06) and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra (2011-14). Both her father and aunt were removed from power by the military and the constitutional court and went to live in exile.

Paetongtarn’s acceptance of the post of the prime minister was backed by almost all members of the royalists and pro-military members of the parliament which could indicate some arrangement between the Pheu Thai, her party, and the military-royalists in the country.

The House of Representatives elected Paetongtarn as prime minister on Friday with 319 votes in favour, 145 against and 27 abstentions. The House of Representatives has 500 elected members.

All 143 MPs of the erstwhile Move Forward Party voted against Paetongtarn.

The king has also announced a pardon for Thaksin Shinawatra, former prime minister and father of Paetongtarn, in a case related to corruption and abuse of power for which he was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Thaksin had come back to the country last year, ending his decade-and-a-half-long self-imposed exile and was serving his sentence until Saturday, before the king confirmed Paetongtarn’s candidacy.

After taking the oath of the prime minister, Paetongtarn announced she will take advice from her father on important issues including the ways to revive the country’s economy, despite the royal pardon banning him from indulging in active politics.

Ban on Move Forward Party 

The Move Forward Party was the single largest party of the Thai parliament but was forced to disband by the country’s constitutional court earlier this month.

After the last year’s elections it had formed a coalition with Pheu Thai and achieved a majority in the House of Representatives. However, it was blocked from forming the government by the royalists and military using a controversial constitutional provision first inserted under the military-backed Prayut Chan-ocha government which made it mandatory for any candidate to get the support of combined majority of both the House of Representatives and Senate.

The Senate has 250 members and almost all of them are appointed by the military or the royalists.

Following the blocking of the Move Forward, Pheu Thai formed a new coalition and Srettha Thavisin was appointed prime minister. However, he too was dismissed by the country’s constitutional court last week after serving less than a year in power for appointing a cabinet minister who had been in jail after trying to bribe a judge.

The constitutional court disbanded the Move Forward Party too last week over its position against the royal defamation law (lese-majeste laws) and banned its leaders from politics for 10 years.

The royal defamation law has been widely criticised as it provides for up to 15 years’ jail for criticising the monarch. The military-backed governments have used the law to persecute opposition against them. Its abolition was one of the major demands of popular protests by students and other sections of the society against the military backed government of Chan-ocha between 2020-21, with activists claiming it is a tool to prevent any political change in the country.

Pheu Thai had supported the move to amend the royal defamation law earlier. However, after it formed the new coalition in the parliament last year it denounced that position.

The Move Forward relaunched itself on August 9 as the People’s Party and decided to continue its movement for reforms in the country’s politics, which has been marred by frequent interventions by the military and the royalists.

This article appeared at peoplesdispatch.org.