Thailand's Pheu Thai party picks Paetongtarn Shinawatra as PM candidate

NEWS WIRES

15 August 2024 at 8:29 am·1-min read

Thailand's Pheu Thai party on Thursday announced it will nominate party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 37-year-old daughter of billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, for the position of prime minister. Lawmakers will vote on Friday in parliament on whether to approve the nomination. The announcement came a day after Thailand's Constitutional Court sacked premier Srettha Thavisin after ruling he had breached regulations by appointing a cabinet minister with a criminal conviction.

Thailand's Pheu Thai party has chosen 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of billionaire ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, as its candidate for prime minister, it announced on Thursday, a day after a court dismissed the incumbent premier in an ethics case.

"We decide to nominate Paetongtarn Shinawatra," party secretary general Sorawong Thienthong told a press conference in Bangkok.

Lawmakers will vote Friday in parliament – where Pheu Thai heads a governing coalition – on whether to approve Paetongtarn as prime minister.

"We are confident that the party and coalition parties will lead our country in helping with Thailand's economic crisis," Paetongtarn said after the announcement.

Srettha is the party's third prime minister to be kicked out by the Constitutional Court, and is leaving office after less than a year.

It was later blocked from forming a government.

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