Pheu Thai Party leader Paetongtarn Shinawatra was elected as the 31st Prime Minister of Thailand on Friday, becoming the second woman to hold the post and the country's youngest premier.

Paetongtarn, 37, easily secured 319 votes in the election attended by 489 out of the 493 members of the House of Representatives on Friday morning.

Her success comes two days after the Constitutional Court removed former prime minister Srettha Thavisin from office for violating ethical standards when he appointed a former lawyer who was once jailed to his cabinet.

READ MORE: Thai court removes PM Srettha over cabinet appointment

Both Paetongtarn and Srettha are from the Pheu Thai Party, which came in second in the 2023 election but was able to secure support from other parties to form the ruling coalition.

In her first media comments as prime minister-elect, Paetongtarn said she had been saddened and confused by Srettha's dismissal and decided it was time to step up.

"I talked to Srettha, my family and people in my party and decided it was about time to do something for the country and the party," she told reporters.

"I hope I can do my best to make the country go forward. That's what I'm trying to do. Today I'm honored and I feel very happy."

Nicknamed “Ung Ing”, Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra also served as premier between 2011 and 2014.

Sorawong Thiengthong, Pheu Thai’s secretary-general, nominated Paetongtarn as the sole candidate for the premiership on Friday morning after Parliament President Wan Muhamad Noor Matha opened the session at 10 am.

Anutin Charnvirakul, leader of the Bhumjaithai Party, the coalition’s second-largest group, said coalition members backed Paetongtarn in her bid for the top job to ensure continuity in governance.

Paetongtarn vowed to continue the government’s policies. “The country has to move ahead. We are determined, together and we will push the country forward,” she told local news portal The Nation after winning Pheu Thai’s nomination.

“She will be under scrutiny. Also, she will be under a lot of pressure and have to rely on his father,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist at Chulalongkorn University said in an interview with The Nation.

Paetongtarn spent her childhood steeped in the country's tumultuous politics. In a speech in March, she said her life has been intertwined with politics since she was eight when her father entered politics.

Educated at elite schools in Thailand and at university in the UK, she spent some years working at the Shinawatra family’s Rende hotel group, where her husband serves as deputy chief investment officer.

READ MORE: Srettha Thavisin elected as Thailand's new prime minister

Last October, after Pheu Thai navigated a circuitous route to forming the government, Paetongtarn, who is married and has two children, was anointed the party’s leader. She reaffirmed that Pheu Thai will continue with its important mission in improving people’s livelihood.

Despite being relatively new to politics, her being a member of a younger generation of leaders will be a strength to Paetongtarn instead of a hindrance, according to Kriengkrai Thiennukul, Chairman of the Federation of Thai Industries.

He believes that she will bridge between the new and old generations. “Under her leadership backed by his father, most policies put forward by the government will continue as planned,” he said.

With inputs from Agencies

Contact the writer at yangwanli@chinadaily.com.cn