Politics Thailand's Constitutional Court dissolves opposition party

The Constitutional Court in Thailand has dissolved the progressive Move Forward Party under pressure from conservative forces. The reason for this was that the party was endangering the monarchy, local media reported.

The former top candidate Pita Limjaroenrat and other leading members were also banned from holding political office for the next ten years, it was reported.

At the request of the electoral commission, the court had examined whether the party had acted unconstitutionally because it had campaigned for the strict law on lèse majesté to be relaxed. For political observers and the party itself, the ruling hardly comes as a surprise.

Days ago, Move Forward had already announced that the party had already become an important political institution that would not fall silent even in the event of dissolution: "The dissolution of a political party only ends a legal organization, but can never silence its ideology," it said in a video posted on Facebook.

Move Forward had clearly won the parliamentary elections last year, but still failed to come to power. Its charismatic former top candidate Pita was repeatedly rejected as a candidate for prime minister by senators with close ties to the military.

Party bans are nothing new

The main reason was the democratically aligned party's plan to change the extremely strict law on lèse majesté, which provides for up to 15 years in prison for violations. After weeks of political turmoil, Pita was booted out by former ally Pheu Thai and its candidate Srettha Thavisin, who was elected head of government in August last year and has been in office since November. Since then, Move Forward has been the strongest opposition force.

Party bans are nothing new in Thailand: Move Forward's predecessor, Future Forward, was also banned in 2020. Members often simply form a new party afterwards. Deputy party leader Sirikanya Tansakul emphasized in the Facebook video: "The spirit of Future Forward and Move Forward will remain, no matter what name the party has."