Yingluck Shinawatra has won a landmark election to become Thailand’s first female prime minister five years after her brother Thaksin was ousted in a military coup. ? “I might be new to being a politician, but I have had experience of politics from a young age. I understand it very well and especially on Sept. 19, 2006 (the day Thaksin was toppled). I learned the nature of politics.” — Yingluck Shinawatra ?????????????????????????????????? ????IT would be wrong to call Yingluck Shinawatra’s rise to power rapid. It was rocket-fuelled. Just over six weeks ago, the businesswoman agreed to stand for office for the first time. Today she is on the verge of becoming Thailand’s first female prime minister — all the more impressive given the country’s generally macho political culture. ???? ????A successful businesswoman, and now with a political career, Yingluck is following in the footsteps of her illustrious brother, Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. ????She was the number one party list candidate for the main opposition Pheu Thai (“For Thais”) political party, and is set to become the country’s first woman prime minister after victory in the July 3 general election. ????Yet Yingluck, 44, has never before run for office nor held a government post, and critics have been quick to point out her inexperience. ????Her primary political qualification seems to be the fact she is the youngest sister of Thaksin, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. ????Despite living in self-imposed exile in Dubai, he still effectively controls the Pheu Thai party. ????Yingluck is there to marshal the Thaksin faithful — the many millions who still want their former leader back — and to woo the undecided with a new look attached to an old name. ????She mobilized that base through democratic elections as opposed to the prolonged — sometimes bloody — street protests that Thailand has witnessed in recent years. ????Yingluck has described Thaksin as a second father — he is 17 years her senior. She has run explicitly under Thaksin’s mantle. The party she fronts used the slogan “Thaksin thinks — Puea Thai does” and her brother has described her as his “clone” — later caveating that he meant she shares his way of thinking. ????Yingluck repeatedly asked voters on the campaign trail: “If you love my brother, will you give his younger sister a chance?” ????But now she is at pains to play down the prospect of the imminent return to Thailand of her brother. ????“My brother is highly experienced politically,” she said. “But I am capable enough to make my own decisions. I think I will do the leadership myself,” she said during an interview this week. ????Many in Thailand are proud to have elected a female leader and even senior Democrats, bitterly opposed to Puea Thai, suggest the voters’ willingness to back a woman speaks well for the country. ????A survey by the Matichon newspaper, asking what people thought of having a female prime minister, found that 70 percent saw it as a move in the right direction and an indication of equality. ???? ????Yingluck is the ninth child in a highly political family. ????She has two degrees in politics — undergraduate from the northern city of Chiang Mai, her family’s powerbase, and master’s degree from Kentucky State University in the United States. ????Until now, she has pursued a corporate career, formerly as managing director of AIS, the telecommunications firm her brother founded, and managing director of SC Asset Company, a family firm involved in property. ????In her bid to become the first female prime minister, Yingluck said she planned to use her attributes as a woman to promote national reconciliation and asked for the chance to prove herself. ????“I am ready to fight according to the rules and I ask for the opportunity to prove myself. I ask for your trust as you used to trust my brother,” she told a party meeting in Bangkok. ????“I will utilize my femininity to work fully for our country.” ????Yingluck’s much-lauded feminine charms indeed electrified the campaign trail. ????When she smiled and bent at the knees to exchange a wai — the prayer-like gesture of respect — with a wizened grandmother or weathered farmer, people seemed to warm to her. ????Her young son, Pipe, has also appeared with her at election rallies. ????Behind the scenes, as commentators have pointed out, she is being advised by a formidable array of veteran politicians, including some of the traditional powerhouses of Thai politics. ????They decided on a campaign strategy that showed off their candidate’s charm. ????She is very careful to stay on message. While she may not know all the right answers yet, she “is smart enough not to be trapped into a compromising answer,” notes the Bangkok Pundit Web site. ????The other key technique has been for Yingluck to say only pleasant things about her opponents — a tactic that throws off her male competitors. ????Yingluck is married to businessman Anusorn Amornchat and has one son. ????(SD-Agencies) ? ‘No job for Thaksin’??????????????????????????????????? ????YINGLUCK SHINAWATRA on Wednesday dismissed mounting speculation that her brother Thaksin will be given an official role under her tenure. ????She dismissed media reports that said Thaksin was likely to become a government trade envoy promoting the kingdom’s exports abroad. ????“It’s not true, there is no such position appointed,” Yingluck told reporters as she arrived at her party’s headquarters in Bangkok for a meeting with economic advisers. ????“There is no role for Thaksin. He is only giving moral support and advice,” she said. “He is fine overseas and he is not anticipating getting any political position. He merely wants to see national reconciliation.” ????(SD-Agencies) U.S. envoy in 2009 forecast rise of Yingluck??????????????????????????????????? ????U.S. diplomats concluded as early as 2009 that Yingluck Shinawatra had a “bright future” despite a low profile in the shadow of her famous brother’s troubles. ????Then-Ambassador to Thailand Eric John characterized Yingluck in a Nov. 25, 2009 diplomatic cable as “far more poised” than in past meetings. He noted that she spoke with confidence about the “operations, strategy and goals” of the pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party, with which she held no official leadership position at the time. ????A Thaksin confidante who accompanied her to a meeting with John even joked that he was dealing with Thailand’s next prime minister, the cable said. ????John’s evaluation was in one of more than 2,000 American diplomatic cables from Thailand that were leaked to the WikiLeaks organization. ????(SD-Agencies)????? ??????????????????????????????? | 