August 7, 2024
BANGKOK – Today, Wednesday, August 7, 2024, will mark a significant event in Thai political history, as the Constitutional Court rules on the fate of the Move Forward Party.
The Election Commission (EC) has requested the court to order the dissolution of the party and revoke the electoral rights of its executive committee members for 10 years, accusing MFP of allegedly undermining the democratic system with the King as Head of State and activities potentially hostile to the system. These facts were established in the Constitutional Court’s decision No. 3/2024 (Amendments to Criminal Code Article 112 case).
Will Move Forward follow the path of the Future Forward Party and face dissolution as another party from the Orange Camp?
Historically, several political parties in Thailand have faced dissolution. Since 1998, 110 parties have been dissolved.
Here, we look at the most notable party dissolutions in the past 20 years, following the establishment of the Constitutional Court in 1997.
Thai Rak Thai Party Dissolution – Creation of “House No. 111”
On May 30, 2007, the Constitutional Court voted 9-0 to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai Party led by Thaksin Shinawatra due to allegations of election fraud. This led to the dissolution of two smaller parties, the Pattana Chart Thai Party and the Pandin Thai Party. The ruling saw 111 Thai Rak Thai executives disqualified for five years, leading to the creation of “House No 111”. The Pattana Chart Thai Party had 19 executives disqualified, and the Pandin Thai Party had three.
This marked the end of the Thai Rak Thai government, which had 377 seats at the time.
Dissolution of Three Parties – Creation of “House No. 109”
On December 2, 2008, the Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the People’s Power Party (PPP), which evolved from Thai Rak Thai, due to election fraud by Deputy Party Leader Yongyuth Tiyapairat in Chiang Rai. This led to the disqualification of 37 executives for five years, ending the 233-seat party.
Similarly, the Chart Thai Party and Matchimathipataya parties were dissolved for election fraud, disqualifying 43 Chart Thai executives and 29 Matchimathipataya executives for five years each. Combined with the People Power Party, the total disqualified executives became known as “House No. 109”.
2019 Thai Raksa Chart Party Dissolution
On March 7, 2019, the Thai Raksa Chart Party, affiliated with Thaksin Shinawatra, was dissolved for nominating Princess Ubolratana as a prime ministerial candidate, which the court ruled undermined the monarchy.
This resulted in the disqualification of 37 executives for 10 years, while some members returned to the Pheu Thai Party.
The Thai Raksa Chart Party was seen as a strategic move by the Pheu Thai Party to split votes and gain more seats under the new electoral rules designed to limit large parties’ seats.
Future Forward Party Dissolution and Thanathorn’s Political Ban
On February 21, 2020, the Constitutional Court dissolved the Future Forward Party led by Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit for illegal party loans of 191 million baht.
This led to the disqualification of 16 executives, including Thanathorn, for 10 years, ending the third-largest party with 81 seats in parliament.
The party then rebranded as Move Forward with Pita Limjaroenrat taking the helm.
If the Move Forward Party is dissolved tomorrow, it will result in the disqualification of 11 executives, including Pita and Chaitawat Tulathon, for 10 years.
Will Move Forward follow the fate of Future Forward and face dissolution, forcing its members to find a new party? We’ll soon find out.