BANGKOK -- The daughter of the divisive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra was nominated and endorsed Friday to get Parliament’s approval as the new prime minister in a vote two days after a court removed the last one over an ethics violation.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra , 37, is the leader of the Pheu Thai party and the sole nominee. She does not hold an elected office, which the law doesn't require of prime ministerial candidates. The parliament also does not require her to be present at the vote.

If Paetongtarn secures parliamentary approval, she will become Thailand’s second female prime minister and the country’s third leader from the Shinawatra family, following her father and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra. She will also be the youngest leader in the nation's history.

Thaksin, the first Thai politician to attain an absolute majority of seats, is a highly popular but controversial political figure who was removed from power by a military coup in 2006. He is widely perceived as the de facto leader of Pheu Thai, the latest in a series of parties associated with him. His enduring popularity and influence significantly contribute to the political support for Paetongtarn.

When Paetongtarn was campaigning for Pheu Thai, she acknowledged her family connections but emphasized that she was not just a representative of her father.

“It’s not the shadow of my dad. I am my dad’s daughter, always and forever, but I have my own decisions to make,” she told a reporter.

However, her father's influence is too significant to ignore, and her job will not be straightforward with him continuing to exert political control over Pheu Thai, said Petra Alderman, a political research fellow at England’s University of Birmingham.

"Thaksin was a powerful political figure, but he was also a burden," she said, “He has a tendency to overreach in politics, so being in his shadow has never been easy.”

Paetongtarn's nomination came after Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was removed from office on Wednesday after less than a year in the role. The Constitutional Court determined that he was guilty of a serious ethical violation concerning his appointment of a Cabinet member who had been imprisoned in relation to an alleged bribery scheme.

This was the second major decision in a week to significantly impact Thai politics. The same court previously dissolved the progressive Move Forward party, which won last year’s general election but was prevented from taking office. The party has already reformed as the People’s Party .

Pheu Thai and its predecessors had consistently won every national election since 2001, focusing on populist policies aimed at addressing economic challenges and bridging income inequality, until their defeat by the reformist Move Forward party in 2023. However, Pheu Thai was given the opportunity to form a government after Move Forward was prevented from assuming power by the previous Senate, a military-appointed body.

Pheu Thai excluded Move Forward from the coalition, and then formed a government with parties aligned with the military government that ousted it in a coup . This move was criticized by some supporters, but party officials argue it was necessary to break the political stalemate and initiate reconciliation after decades of deep divisions.

Thaksin returned to Thailand last year after years of living abroad. This move was widely interpreted as part of a political agreement between Pheu Thai and their long-time rivals in the conservative establishment to prevent the Move Forward Party from forming a government.

The former senators were granted special authority to veto a prime ministerial candidate under the constitution enacted in 2017 by the military government. However, this power expired with the conclusion of their term in May. The newly elected members of the Senate, chosen through a complex process last month , do not possess this veto power.

A candidate now only requires a majority vote in the lower house, or at least 247 votes. The current 11-party coalition led by Pheu Thai currently holds 314 seats in the lower house and has publicly declared their unanimous support for Paetongtarn.

The coalition backing Paetongtarn might see their unity strengthened due to her unique advantage over Srettha — a direct connection to her influential father who holds ultimate decision-making power — noted Napon Jatusripitak, a political science researcher at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

“This establishes a clear hierarchy and minimizes internal conflicts,” he remarked. “Paetongtarn will have defined areas where she can exert her authority, while her father handles matters involving the coalition partners.”

With Move Forward dissolving and its sole candidate for prime minister, Pita Limjaroenrat, barred from politics, Napon believes other major parties will now engage in a “game of musical chairs” for the premiership. This game has been put on hold due to an agreement to share power, regardless of who becomes prime minister.

“Ultimately, the key objective remains unchanged: to maintain stability and prevent the reformists from gaining control,” he stated.

___

Associated Press writer Napat Kongsawad contributed to this report.