Thaksin’s Daughter Backed by Lawmakers to Be Next Thai PM

(Bloomberg) -- The daughter of former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra is now the favorite to become the Southeast Asian nation’s next prime minister, a move that would signal continuity after another party member was ousted from the top job on Wednesday.

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Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 37, received the backing of a majority of lawmakers in Thaksin’s Pheu Thai party at a meeting on Thursday. The final decision will be taken by party executives, who plan to meet at 4 p.m. local time, senior party member Suriya Juangroongruangkit told reporters.

Paetongtarn is the youngest of Thaksin’s three children and the nominal leader of Pheu Thai, the biggest group in an 11-party coalition seeking to retain power after a court disqualified fellow Pheu Thai member Srettha Thavisin as prime minister.

Local media earlier reported that another party member, former law minister Chaikasem Nitisiri, 75, was the frontrunner to become the next premier.

The 500-member elected House of Representatives is scheduled to hold a special session on Friday to choose a new leader after Srettha was removed from office by the nation’s Constitutional Court for an ethical violation.

The appointment of either Paetongtarn or Chaikasem would signal few changes to policies pursued by Srettha’s administration, which focused on bolstering growth through looser fiscal policies and tackling the high cost of living and near-record household debt.

Pheu Thai, which is effectively controlled by Thaksin and his family, has secured the support of some of the nation’s biggest pro-royalist conservative parties after a deal that brought the former leader back to Thailand following a prolonged exile. As long as the alliance holds, it has the support of more than 300 lawmakers in the lower house, enough to overcome any opposition.

Thai Political Upheaval Shows Royalists Are Still in Charge

Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the second-biggest group Bhumjaithai Party and a top contender from the conservative camp, said his party would back any Pheu Thai nominee.

“While it is still too early to tell, a new cabinet that is able to provide a good balance between coalition parties may stand to last the remainder of the four-year term and provide some medium-term political stability,” according to Kaseedit Choonnawat, an analyst at Citigroup Inc.

--With assistance from Eduard Gismatullin and Pathom Sangwongwanich.

(Recasts with lawmakers’ backing Thaksin’s daughter.)

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