BANGKOK – Looking fresh just two days after giving birth, Ms Paetongtarn Shinawatra, a leading candidate for Thailand’s premiership, on Wednesday said she was ready to resume campaigning, adding that she remained confident her Pheu Thai Party would gain a landslide victory in the May 14 general election.
The mother of two called her children her “secret power” and confirmed that she would speak at the party’s rally on May 12. Other appearances on the campaign trail will depend on the condition of her newborn son, Prutthasin Sooksawas.
She was speaking to reporters at Bangkok’s Praram 9 Hospital, where she gave birth by caesarean operation on Monday.
Accompanied by her husband Pidok Sooksawas, a commercial airline pilot, Ms Paetongtarn showed the baby – who was ensconced in a cot – to the waiting crowd of reporters.
Her mother Potjaman Na Pombejra and elder sister Pintongta Shinawatra were also at the hospital.
Ms Paetongtarn, 36, is the daughter of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006 and has lived abroad since 2008 to evade jail on corruption charges which he claims are politically motivated.
Her aunt is Yingluck Shinawatra, another premier who was unseated shortly before her government was overthrown in another military coup in 2014. Yingluck similarly lives in self-exile abroad.
Until late April, Ms Paetongtarn was still speaking at the campaign rallies of Pheu Thai Party, which is leading in the opinion polls ahead of the general election.
In these opinion polls, Ms Paetongtarn is also the top or second-most popular prime minister candidate, sharing the limelight with Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, and well ahead of caretaker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha from the United Thai Nation Party.
Pheu Thai has nominated two other candidates for premiership – property development tycoon Srettha Thavisin, 60, and party strategist Chaikasem Nitisiri, 74.
Asked by reporters on Wednesday which one of the three will be prime minister, Ms Paetongtarn smiled broadly and said: “All three are ready.”
Pheu Thai is successor to the Thai Rak Thai Party founded by Thaksin, which won three elections since 2001 before being dissolved for electoral fraud.
The unrest that preceded Yingluck’s ouster in 2014 was triggered by attempts of the then Pheu Thai government to push through an amnesty Bill that would have paved the way for Thaksin to return to the country without setting foot in jail.
Thaksin declared in an interview in March that he planned to return home one day without seeking an amnesty.
On Monday, the billionaire fugitive posted on Twitter that he was very happy about the birth of his seventh grandchild. Saying that he would turn 74 in July, Thaksin added that he would seek “permission” to return home to look after his grandchildren.
Asked on Wednesday about her father’s return, Ms Paetongtarn replied that he had always said he wanted to return to look after his grandchildren, and that was not related to the party.
In this election, Pheu Thai is asking voters to give it a “landslide victory” in the 500-seat Lower House to help it overcome the influence of the appointed 250-seat Senate, which also has a say in who is chosen to become prime minister after the election.
