Young female leader, 37, rules Thailand

Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra

Pheu Thai Party's leader and Prime Minister candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra reacts during a press conference on the announcement of prime ministerial candidate ahead of a pivotal parliamentary vote on a new prime minister, in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 15, 2024 (Reuters/Chalinee Thirasupa)

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Maybe ladies are not bad? - They are for us.

(Reuters) BANGKOK, Thailand - Political neophyte Paetongtarn Shinawatra won the backing of parliament to become Thailand's youngest prime minister on Friday, only a day after she was thrust into the spotlight amid an unrelenting power struggle between the warring elites.

The 37-year-old daughter of divisive political heavyweight Thaksin Shinawatra passed the required threshold of 51% of votes and now faces a baptism of fire, just two days after ally Srettha Thavisin was dismissed as premier by a judiciary central to Thailand's two decades of intermittent turmoil.

Pheu Thai Party's leader and Prime Minister candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra reacts during a press conference on the announcement of prime ministerial candidate ahead of a pivotal parliamentary vote on a new prime minister, in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 15, 2024 (REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa).

At stake for Paetongtarn could be the legacy and political future of the billionaire Shinawatra family, whose once unstoppable populist juggernaut suffered its first election defeat in over two decades last year and had to do a deal with its bitter enemies in the military to form a government.

Pheu Thai Party's leader and Prime Minister candidate Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand's caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and coalition party representatives react after a press conference on the announcement of prime ministerial candidate ahead of a pivotal parliamentary vote on a new prime minister, in Bangkok, Thailand, Aug. 15, 2024 (REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa)

Paetongtarn will immediately face challenges on multiple fronts, with the economy floundering and the popularity of her Pheu Thai Party dwindling, having yet to deliver on its flagship cash handout programme worth 500 billion baht ($14.25 billion).

Paetongtarn has never served in government and will become Thailand's second female prime minister and the third Shinawatra to take the top job after aunt Yingluck Shinawatra, and 75-year-old father Thaksin, the country's most influential and polarizing politician.

• Related video: Thailand: Thai PM Srettha Thavisin's removal from office raises fears of political uncertainty (StringersHub)

The fall of Srettha after less than a year in office will be a stark reminder of the kind of hostility Paetongtarn could face, with Thailand trapped in a tumultuous cycle of coups and court rulings that have disbanded political parties and toppled multiple governments and prime ministers. More: Thailand's Paetongtarn Shinawatra wins parliamentary backing to become new PM

• Panu Wongcha-um and Chayut Setboonsarng, Reuters via MSN, 8/15/24; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly