BANGKOK: One of Thailand’s largest political parties, founded by ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, elected a new leader on Friday, the party said, following the resignation of his daughter, the former prime minister.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, 39, stepped down as Pheu Thai party chief last week after a court removed her as prime minister in August over an ethics breach linked to a border dispute with Cambodia.
Analysts say her departure was a strategic move to shield Pheu Thai from potential legal challenges and could mark the end of the Shinawatra family’s decades-long dominance in Thai politics.
Pheu Thai members elected Julapun Amornvivat, a former deputy finance minister, as their new leader, according to a livestream on the party’s official Facebook page.
“I feel honored to receive this privilege and thank all party members for their confidence,” the MP from northern Chiang Mai province, a Pheu Thai stronghold, told reporters after the vote.
