Yingluck awaits royal nod as Thai cabinet race heats up

BANGKOK: Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was on Monday putting the finishing touches to a 35-member cabinet expected to be unveiled in the next two days, more than a month after her general election victory on July 3.

Yingluck was awaiting endorsement later on Monday by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, after which she will formally become Thailand’s first female prime minister, five years after her brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, was ousted as premier by the military.

Yingluck, 44, sailed through a parliamentary vote to win the premiership on Friday at the head of a six-party coalition led by her Puea Thai Party.

The four ministerial posts likely to be taken by outsiders were commerce, finance, defence and a deputy prime minister’s position, according to reports. (UNI)