Yingluck Shinawatra was confirmed as Thailand’s first female prime minister on Friday, as the volatile kingdom begins a new chapter after years of political upheaval since her brother was ousted.
Weeks after she was propelled from relative obscurity to election victory by the support of her older sibling, fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, Yingluck won parliamentary approval to be Thailand’s 28th premier. Retaining the air of calm assurance she displayed in the run up to her party’s crushing election victory last month, Yingluck said she was “excited to start work” after winning the support of 296 members of the lower house out of a potential 500.
“People will judge whether my work satisfies them and meets their expectations or not,” she told reporters after the vote. Supporters and members of the “Red Shirt” protest movement loyal to Thaksin, gathered at the Bangkok headquarters of her Puea Thai party on Friday evening in expectation of a royal endorsement that will formalise her position. “It is good that Yingluck has become our prime minister. I think she can solve the problems in the country — do not underestimate women,” said Rattanaporn Bosakaranut, 76, reflecting the cheerful optimism of those present.
Puea Thai and its partners command a three-fifths parliamentary majority after a resounding victory in the July 3 election over the pro-establishment Democrats of outgoing leader Abhisit Vejjajiva. Yingluck has since consolidated her parliamentary dominance by forming a six-party coalition that accounts for 300 of the legislature’s 500 seats. But the 44-year-old, described by her brother as his “clone”, faces the challenge of healing the bitter political split that has torn the country in two in the years since Thaksin was thrown out of office in a 2006 army coup backed by Thailand’s elite.
Analysts believe the first test for the fresh-faced political newcomer will simply be whether she can hang on to power in a country where the removal of leaders is commonplace.
