Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, will be nominated as the country’s new prime minister in a parliamentary vote, her party and its coalition partners said Thursday.
The move follows the removal of former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin by court order over an ethical violation a day earlier.
Leaders of the 11 party-coalition led by Paetongtarn’s populist Pheu Thai party declared their support for her at a news conference on Thursday after the party’s secretary-general Sorawong Thienthong announced her candidacy.
Paetongtarn thanked her party and the coalition partners for their support, adding she is ready to move the country forward.
“I have confidence in Pheu Thai. I have confidence in all government coalition parties to bring our country out of the economic crisis,” she said. Pheu Thai had campaigned heavily on improving Thailand’s sluggish economy.
If Paetongtarn is approved in Parliament’s vote, which is scheduled for Friday, she will become Thailand’s second female prime minister and the country’s third leader from the Shinawatra family, after her father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra. (AP)