Thai court orders dissolution of anti-establishment Move Forward party
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Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat speaks to the members of the media in Bangkok, Thailand, August 7, 2024. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
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BANGKOK – Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Aug 7 ordered the dissolution of the popular opposition party, Move Forward, over its campaign to amend a royal insults law that protects the monarchy from criticism.
The disbandment of the 2023 election winner is the latest setback for Thailand’s major political parties, which remain embroiled in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power with an influential nexus of conservatives, old-money families and royalist generals.
The decision comes six months after the same court ordered Move Forward Party to drop its plan to reform a law on royal insults, ruling that the move was unconstitutional and risked undermining Thailand’s system of governance with the king as head of state. Move Forward denies that.
Though the dissolution is likely to anger millions of young and urban voters who backed Move Forward and its progressive agenda, the impact of the ruling is expected to be limited, with only the party’s 11 current and former executives banned from politics for 10 years.
This means 143 of its lawmakers will keep their seats and are expected to reorganise under a new party, as they did in 2020, when its predecessor Future Forward was disbanded over a campaign funding violation.
If all join the same party, it would be the biggest in Parliament and would be expected to continue a progressive agenda that includes military reform and undoing big business monopolies, among the policies that saw its rivals coalesce to block it from forming a government in 2023.
The decision comes at a critical juncture in Thai politics, with cracks appearing also in an uneasy truce between the royalist establishment and another long-time rival, the populist ruling party Pheu Thai.
The Constitutional Court will next week decide on a case brought by 40 conservative former senators seeking to dismiss Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin over his appointment to Cabinet of a lawyer who served time in jail. He denies wrongdoing and says the appointment was above board.
Mr Srettha’s case is among factors that have heightened political uncertainty and roiled financial markets, with the prospect of political upheaval if he is removed.
The choice of a new premier would need to be voted on by Parliament, potentially pitting Pheu Thai against coalition partners and leading to a shake-up of the governing alliance and a realignment of Cabinet and policies. REUTERS
