Sister of exiled former leader wins clear majority in Sunday election
Thailand’s newly elected prime minister has agreed to form a coalition government with four smaller political parties. Yingluck Shinawatra, leader of the Pheu Thai party and sister of ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was the surprise winner of Sunday’s election, when her party won a majority of the seats in the country’s legislature. The election comes just one year after violent anti-government protests in the country’s capital left more than 90 people dead. Many of them were supporters of Thaksin, who is in exile after being ousted by a military coup in 2006. Thailand’s outgoing defence minister said the country’s army would accept the result of Sunday’s election. Although critics have portrayed Yingluck as the political puppet of her brother, Thaksin told Thai reporters that he does not want to return to politics.