Thailand's Parliament elected Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest daughter of the divisive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, as prime minister Friday. Paetongtarn becomes Thailand's third leader from the Shinawatra family, after her father, who was ousted by a coup and returned from exile last year, and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra, who lives in exile. Paetongtarn also became Thailand's second female prime minister after her aunt and the country's youngest leader at 37, the AP reports.
As the sole nominee, she was confirmed by 319 votes in approval, with 145 lawmakers voting against her and 27 abstaining. Members of Parliament spent about an hour casting their votes in public one by one. Paetongtarn is the leader of the ruling Pheu Thai party but was not an elected lawmaker, which was not required for her to be a candidate for prime minister. She will officially become prime minister with a royal endorsement, though the timing of that step wasn't known.
Paetongtarn's nomination followed the removal of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Wednesday after less than a year in office. The Constitutional Court found him guilty of a serious ethical breach regarding his appointment of a Cabinet member who was jailed in connection with an alleged bribery attempt. It was the second major ruling in a week to shake Thai politics. The same court last week dissolved the progressive Move Forward party, which won last year's general election but was blocked from taking power. The party has already regrouped as the People's Party.
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