Pheu Thai Party

The Thai king on Sunday formally appointed Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the 37-year-old daughter of controversial billionaire ex-premier Thaksin, as Thailand's new prime minister.

Jailed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is to be freed, the kingdom's justice minister said Tuesday, possibly as soon as the weekend — just six months after returning from 15 years of self-imposed exile.

Former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra returned from 15 years in exile on Tuesday and was immediately jailed, but his time behind bars could be cut short with his party on the cusp of winning back power.

Thailand's progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) claimed victory in the country's election Monday after a result that decimated military-backed parties that have ruled the kingdom for nearly a decade.

Thailand's ousted prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra insisted on her innocence May 19 at the start of a trial that could see her jailed for a decade, part of what observers say is a vendetta against her family.

Thailand's Constitutional Court has ordered Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to step down over abuse of powers.