August 8, 2024
BANGKOK – The nine Constitutional Court judges on Wednesday voted unanimously to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP) and ban its executives from politics for 10 years.
The court announced that the 11 party members who were on the party’s executive board from March 25, 2021, to January 31, 2024, would be banned from standing in any elections for 10 years from the date of the verdict, Wednesday (August 7).
The 11 MFP members are also banned from registering any new parties during the 10-year period and from accepting any party executive posts.
In its verdict, the court cited its previous ruling (No 3/2567) on January 31 to substantiate its decision to rule that the Move Forward had taken actions deemed to be an attempt to topple the country’s constitutional monarchy and a hostile act against the monarchy.
The Election Commission (EC) had cited the charter court’s January 31 ruling to ask it to dissolve the party and ban its executives. The EC claimed Move Forward had violated the organic law on political parties by trying to amend Article 112 of the Penal Code or the draconian lese majeste law. It claimed moves to amend the law could be seen as an act of hostility against the monarchy and a move to overthrow it.
The court said the violations occured from March 25, 2021, to January 31 this year, when the court had ruled that the party violated the charter by campaigning to amend Article 112 or the lese majeste law.
Pita Limjaroenrat, who was Move Forward leader during that period, is among the 11 executives who have been banned. Pita appeared emotionless when the verdict was read out in the court room.
The verdict reiterated that Move Forward had abused the monarchy to try and gain a political advantage, which caused the public to misunderstand the King, who should be at the centre of every Thai’s life.
The verdict said the party’s bill to amend Article 112 had been used during the election campaign to gain political advantage, and by doing this, the party undermined the monarchy.
The charter court also saw this as an attempt to separate the monarchy from the nation, or undermine Thailand’s democratic system with the King as head of state.
The court also noted that MFP executives had shown hostility towards the monarchy by seeking bail for those behind bars for lese majeste violations. Worse yet, the verdict said, some MFP executives also faced lese majeste charges themselves.
The verdict added that the 10-year ban was appropriate as MFP had stopped campaigning to amend Article 112 after the court’s January 31 ruling, and removed it from the party’s policies.
The bill to amend the article was also withdrawn without causing damage, the verdict noted.