Top opposition party figures to address public on Friday, ahead of Aug 7 decision in dissolution case
PUBLISHED : 30 Jul 2024 at 20:59
The Move Forward Party will not give up the fight to promote progressive policies regardless of how the Constitutional Court rules in a case that could bring its dissolution next week, spokesman Parit Wacharasindhu said on Tuesday.
Mr Parit said party leader Chaithawat Tulathon and chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat would give statements on Friday summarising the legal arguments the party has submitted to the court, which will hand down its ruling at 3pm on Aug 7.
He said the party remains optimistic and is carrying on with its duties in the House of Representatives in pushing for laws and other ways to scrutinise the government’s work.
The party is also working at the local level, such as on the election of the Ratchaburi Provincial Administrative Organisation chairman.
“I insist what we have done is not an attempt to overthrow the democratic system with the King as the head of state,” said the spokesman, who is also a list-MP. “We will clarify the direction of our party once again (on Friday) and respond to any questions.”
The Constitutional Court is preparing to rule whether Move Forward should be dissolved for having violated Section 92 of the organic law on political parties, based on a complaint made by the Election Commission (EC) in March.
The poll agency cited the court’s earlier ruling on Jan 31 that the party’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.
Rangsiman Rome, a prominent Move Forward MP, said it should not be so easy to dissolve political parties, as they have risen to power based on popular support.
Move Forward itself rose from the ashes of the Future Forward Party, which was dissolved in 2020 for accepting a loan from one of its founders. A year earlier it had shocked pundits by winning more than 80 seats in the general election.
Move Forward won the most votes and seats in the 2023 election but was unable to form a government because of opposition from the military-appointed Senate, which recently finished its term.
“The dissolution of the party should be decided by the public. The use of the judicial process for this should be obsolete by now,” Mr Rangsiman said.
“The public should decide which policies or what kind of political parties they want or do not want.”
Progressive Movement secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said the media and analysts are only interested in who will become the next leader of Move Forward or its successor if the party is dissolved.
They also want to know how many MPs will move to other parties, without paying attention to the court, the Election Commission, the legal battles, or whether the move to dissolve the party is legitimate, he added.
This shows how few people, if anyone at all, really care about the law or legal principles anymore when it comes to dissolving a party, he said.
The dissolution of political parties in Thailand has become an absolute tool of legal warfare to take down opponents to the established order, he added.