As many as 44 former Move Forward members face lifetime bans over lese-majeste stance
PUBLISHED : 30 Aug 2024 at 17:20
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) comfirmed on Friday that it has launched an investigation into 44 members of the disbanded Move Forward Party, 25 of whom are current parliamentarians, for supporting legislation seeking to amend the lese-majeste law.
It comes less than a month after the Constitutional Court ordered the party’s dissolution over its election campaign pledge to amend the law. It reorganised as the People’s Party and remains the largest party in parliament with 143 members.
Section 112 of the Criminal Code shields the crown from criticism and carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years. Opponents of the law say it has been used mainly to stifle opposition.
“We have started calling relevant individuals to hear the facts,” NACC deputy secretary-general Sarote Phuengrampan told Reuters, adding that an investigative panel had been established.
“We are not calling all 44, only some of them,” he said. “This step is to collect evidence, but no one has been charged yet.”
Under the commission’s procedures, if the panel finds sufficient evidence of “unethical” behaviour, it would then charge people, who can present a defence before a decision is taken on whether to prosecute them in court.
Move Forward were the surprise winners of last year’s elections, supported by urban and youth voters who favoured its anti-establishment policies including military reform and undoing business monopolies. However, it was blocked from forming a government by unelected lawmakers allied with the royalist military.
The Supreme Court last year handed a lifetime ban from politics to Pannika Wanich, a Move Forward politician, over social media posts that were deemed disrespectful to the monarchy.