PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2024 at 16:54
Sirikanya Tansakul, deputy leader of the election-winning, opposition-core Move Forward Party (MFP), said Thai politics will enter a new chapter if she is appointed the leader of the MFP’s planned reincarnation in the event the party is disbanded by court order.
Ms Sirikanya said on Monday that if her party nominates and elects her as a new leader, Thailand will have more women party leaders and that will be a step forward for the country.
“There will be a new dimension of Thai politics, unlike the past when most political leaders were men,” Ms Sirikanya said.
Following the MFP video clip concerning its disbandment case, reporters asked her about the possibility of assuming the new party’s leadership.
“That will depend on the party,” Ms Sirikanya replied.
“If an untoward incident occurs, members will be ready to move to a new house… No matter what happens, we are well prepared,” she said, apparently referring to the chance of Move Forward being disbanded. However, she said any new party had yet to be named.
Meanwhile, the MFP invited its supporters via Facebook to wear party shirts and gather at its headquarters on Aug 7 when the Constitutional Court will rule on its disbandment case.
The party said that Progressive Movement secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul would use the occasion to give a lecture on the Constitutional Court and the disbandment of political parties.
Mr Piyabutr was the secretary-general of the Future Forward Party which was earlier dissolved and reincarnated as MFP.
MFP list MP Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn said it would be more convenient for supporters to show their allegiance at the party’s head office instead of at the court.
He denied the invitation was meant to pressure the court.
The Constitutional Court is scheduled to rule on MFP’s fate on Aug 7.
The ruling is in response to a petition submitted in March by the Election Commission (EC) asking the court to dissolve the MFP for violating Section 92 of the organic law on political parties. The court accepted the petition for hearing on April 3.
The poll agency’s request is based on the court’s ruling on Jan 31 that MFP’s efforts to change Section 112 of the Criminal Code – the lese majeste law – reflected an intention to undermine the constitutional monarchy.
The EC also asked the court to ban the party’s executives from standing in future elections and prohibit them from registering or serving as executives of a new party for 10 years.
MFP won the general election last year but was blocked by the junta-apponted Senate from taking power. The government was formed instead by the Pheu Thai Party, which came second.