(CTN News) – Thailand’s Paetongtarn Shinawatra is emerging as the contender to defeat in future elections, wagering that nostalgia can win millions of working-class votes. She is bragging about her rich family’s heritage of populism and enormous electoral triumphs.
The 36-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra is actively campaigning in the rural heartland of the Shinawatra family’s Pheu Thai political machine to rekindle the passion that propelled father Thaksin and aunt Yingluck to power in historically large margins.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a political novice, has said that Pheu Thai would accomplish the tasks left incomplete from its three terms in government since 2001, all of which were terminated by military coups and court decisions it claims were planned by Thailand’s conservative elite.
In her first official interview with a foreign news outlet ahead of the election, which is anticipated in May, Paetongtarn Shinawatra said, “We managed to correct everything in the first year, but then four years later, we were removed by a coup. Therefore there are things that we have not completed.”
The Shinawatra Family’s Controversial Reputation in Thai Politics
“We thus explain to them how our policies may alter their life on each level. And only stable politics can bring about long-lasting change in people’s lives, “She said while running for office in the northeast.
Despite leading significant economic progress, the army overthrew Thaksin and Yingluck in 2006 and 2014, respectively. They both maintain a self-imposed exile to escape jail sentences that, according to their advocates, were intended to thwart their political comebacks.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the youngest child of Thaksin, has taken over and is following in her father’s footsteps by implementing long-promised high-speed train systems, utility subsidies, and infrastructure to control floods and droughts.
Think Big, Act Smart is Pheu Thai’s campaign motto, which criticizes the piecemeal changes implemented by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-military-backed ocha’s administrations since he took office in 2014.
“We must be able to confront persistent issues that have plagued us and see the larger picture. These must be fully addressed, “Paetongtarn Shinawatra stated.
Though yet to be declared as Pheu Thai’s prime ministerial candidate, Paetongtarn Shinawatra is well ahead in opinion surveys for premier, with double the support of Prayuth.
Given the military’s power over an appointed Senate, which, together with the elected lower house, selects the prime minister, Pheu Thai is anticipated to receive the majority of votes, but she may find it difficult to form a government.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra’s Concerns for Thailand’s Future
Paetongtarn said she routinely contacts and stays close to her father, who resides mostly in Dubai. She said that her running for office when almost seven months pregnant was his main concern.
But I’m OK, she said. “My second pregnancy is now. I am conscious of myself. I won’t push it too far.”
Despite their political success, the Shinawatras are equally hated and adored throughout Thailand.
Opponents have long charged them with using populist programs to pay off the poor and engaging in cronyism to benefit allies in business. The Shinawatras refute the allegations.
The election in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, is expected to be another brawl between rival elites.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra said that she is still worried about how her family’s involvement in the country’s unrelenting power struggle, which includes coups, may cause Thailand to “slide backward”.
“It also alters how the rest of the world views our nation. They refuse to engage in commerce with us. The chances for everyone are diminished, “She said.
“For so long, our nation has been frozen. Therefore, a coup should not occur once again. The nation must develop, and its citizens deserve improved living conditions.”
Source: CTN News
