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Paetongtarn Shinawatra has been named Thailand’s new prime minister, making him the youngest head of state in the country’s history and marking the return to power of the Shinawatra family that has dominated Thai politics for the past two decades.

Paetongtarn, 37, secured the post of prime minister on Friday after winning the support of a majority of lawmakers in Thailand’s parliament. She will become Asia’s youngest head of government and Thailand’s third from the Shinawatra clan after her father, controversial former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra.

Her tenure as prime minister could usher in a new wave of volatility in Thai politics. The Shinawatra clan has repeatedly clashed with the country’s powerful military-royalist establishment, leading to coups and the ousting of pro-Thaksin leaders. Paetongtarn is backed by a shaky coalition that includes her family’s former rivals, and tensions have risen in recent months.

Paetongtarn, the youngest of Thaksin’s three children, is also a newcomer to Thai politics with no government experience. She gained popularity in last year’s general election when she campaigned as leader of the Shinawatras’ Pheu Thai Party while in advanced pregnancy.

Paetongtarn, who is not an elected member of parliament, was the only candidate in Friday’s general election. Her rapid rise came after Thailand’s Constitutional Court removed former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office over a Cabinet appointment that the court said violated ethical standards. Srettha, who also hailed from Pheu Thai, had held the post for less than a year.

“I really hope I can give people confidence that we can create opportunities, improve the quality of life and give empowerment to all Thai people,” Paetongtarn said at a press conference after her election on Friday.

The political upheaval comes at a turbulent time for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, which is struggling with slowing growth. Pheu Thai has promised to stimulate the economy with a $14 billion monetary stimulus program, but Srettha has been unable to implement the program and the plan’s fate is now uncertain.

Paetongtarn’s biggest concern will be the stability of her ruling coalition. The Shinawatras reached an agreement with the conservative establishment last year to form a government that coincided with the return of Thaksin, a billionaire telecoms magnate who later became a politician and was ousted in a coup in 2006.

But Thaksin, 75, was charged in May with insulting the country’s monarchy in 2015. Yingluck, who was dismissed by the country’s Constitutional Court in 2014, remains in exile. Srettha’s dismissal was prompted by the appointment of a former lawyer and Shinawatra ally.

Analysts said the country’s courts had become a political tool used by the royalist establishment to neutralise its political opponents. Last week, the progressive Move Forward party, which won the most votes in the 2023 election but was kept out of power by the Pheu Thai-led coalition, was dissolved because it promised to reform the country’s strict lese majeste law.

In Thailand, judicial intervention may be necessary in the future “to keep Thaksin in chains,” said Napon Jatusripitak, a visiting professor at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. “The longevity of the (Paetongtarn) government will depend on whether the coalition partners and conservative interest groups are satisfied.”

Napon said Paetongtarn’s popularity had declined since the election because the Pheu Thai party – which had originally sought an alliance with Move Forward – had abandoned its promise not to cooperate with military-backed parties.

“Paetongtarn has a long way to go. She has to work hard to prove that she is someone who is accountable to the public and not to her father.”