PUBLISHED : 11 Mar 2024 at 06:24
Move Forward Party leader Chaithawat Tulathon on Sunday downplayed speculation regarding the prospects of the MFP being dissolved over its stance against the lese-majeste law, saying the party is ready to deal with it.
He was speaking during a meeting attended by party members and supporters in Mukdahan.
Responding to a party member who asked about the prospects of the party’s disbandment, Mr Chaithawat tried to allay that concern.
“We have to do our best to protect the party. We must be prepared for any situation that may arise,” he said. “I want everyone to look back on things that have happened over the past five years. The [now-dissolved] Future Forward Party and the MFP have pushed for changes this far.”
The FFP was reincarnated as the MFP, which took the general election last year by storm.
“What we are confronting is because our success is too much and too fast for them [the party’s political opponents],” Mr Chaithawat said. “We have made them feel that things are not the same.”
“Thai politics and society are changing so fast that they fear this will affect their power structure so they are trying all they can to get rid of us by using independent agencies and laws to stop change. They see Move Forward as a threat,” he said, without elaborating.
The Election Commission (EC) has previously said the dissolution case against MFP will not drag on. However, a time frame for the case has not been set, it said.
EC chairman Itthiporn Boonpracong said the political party registrar is examining the Constitutional Court’s Jan 31 ruling on the party’s attempt to change the lese majeste law. It is also examining the Political Party Act, and the full court ruling to prepare a report for the EC.
The court’s full ruling was published in the Royal Gazette on Feb 29, almost a month after it ruled the MFP’s push to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lese majeste law, indicated an intention to undermine the constitutional monarchy.
The court also ordered the MFP to cease all attempts to amend Section 112. It said campaigning on the issue is considered an attempt to end the constitutional monarchy with the King as head of state in violation of Section 49 of the constitution.
It said that ex-MFP leader Pita Limjaroenrat and the party tried to either change or revoke Section 112 when its 44 MPs submitted a bill to amend Section 112 in 2021.
Mr Itthiporn said the EC did not set the time frame for the case but noted that the deliberation process would be completed in a timely fashion. The EC can propose the dissolution of a party to the court if it has obtained enough evidence the party has committed an act deemed hostile to the country.