Thailand's opposition Democrat Party leader, Abhisit Vejjajiva, narrowly won a Parliamentary vote yesterday to become the country's third Prime Minister in as many months.
The Oxford-educated economist faces an economy on the brink of recession and a deeply divided country more than two years after former leader Thaksin Shinawatra was removed in a coup.
With only a majority of 16 seats in Parliament, Mr Abhisit's multi-party coalition may last only a few weeks.
By-elections are due on January 11 to fill 29 seats previously held by pro-Thaksin parties. If they all go against Mr Abhisit, he would be out of power.
"I don't think it will be long," Sompop Manarungsan, an economics professor at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said of Mr Abhisit's grip on power.
Mr Abhisit has made reviving the export and tourism-reliant economy his top priority, but he gave no details of his plans yesterday. He said last week he would cut taxes and raise spending to offset the slowing exports and political instability that has kept foreign investors and tourists away.
Rating agencies Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch have all reduced their sovereign outlooks, saying political turmoil would compound the impact of the global financial crisis.
Mr Abhisit's election may offer some short-term relief by keeping the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) off the streets, but beyond that analysts see little to be excited about.
"Over the more medium term, it remains to be seen if the coalition can stay together because of their reliance on other small parties and the backdrop of the deteriorating economy," said Nick Bibby of Barclays Capital in Singapore.
"They have to start some fiscal stimulus, but I'm not sure if they can get it together in time."
The angry protests by red-shirted Mr Thaksin supporters outside Parliament yesterday suggest there will be no respite from Thailand's three-year old political crisis.
Some protesters in the crowd vowed to take a page from the PAD's playbook and return to Parliament in two weeks to disrupt Mr Abhisit's maiden speech.
Two people were killed in clashes between the PAD and police on October 7 when former Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat delivered his first speech to Parliament.
Risk analysts say the outlook for Thailand's political stability remains bleak because the change in government has not put an end to the country's fundamental power struggle.
"Ending Thailand's political crisis will require a solution to the power struggle between the royalist bureaucratic elite and the urban middle class on one side and Mr Thaksin's supporters on the other," Economist Intelligence Unit analyst Jacob Hamstra said.