Paithongtarn Shinawatra has been elected prime minister of Thailand, returning her family to power.

At 37, Paithongtarn Shinawatra has become the youngest prime minister in Thailand's history. Lawmakers elected the Pheu Thai Party leader on Friday, August 16, the only candidate in the race to win more than half the votes in the chamber.

The heiress to the ultra-wealthy family that has divided the kingdom for more than two decades, she is the third Shinawatra to assume the role, after her father Thaksin (2001-2006) and her aunt Yingluck (2011-2014), who were both ousted in a coup. The Shinawatra family cannot be separated from the tensions that have divided the kingdom for more than two decades, between the old guard loyal to the monarchy protected by the military and an electorate eager for change.

At nearly 38, Paithongtarn Shinawatra has broken the record for early maturity in Thailand, where politics has been the domain of men and the elderly since the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in 1932. The next government, which will only take office after the king’s formal approval, must navigate a kingdom at a standstill, with stubborn divisions and weak growth as a backdrop.

Within a week, the Constitutional Court dissolved the main opposition party and removed former Prime Minister Sumitra Thavisin, contradicting the desire for change expressed by a majority of Thais at the ballot box, according to the pro-democracy camp. Petongtarn Shinawatra He has the support of the outgoing majority coalition, which is dominated by the Pheu Thai party under the influence of his father.