Thai court dissolves progressive party that won elections but was blocked from power

BANGKOK —  A court in Thailand has ordered the dissolution of the progressive Move Forward Party, which finished first in last year’s general election, saying it violated the constitution by proposing an amendment of a law against defaming the country’s royal family.

The Constitutional Court said Wednesday it voted unanimously to dissolve the party because its campaign proposal to amend the law amounted to an attempt to overthrow the nation’s constitutional monarchy.

The Move Forward Party was unable to form a government after winning the elections because members of the Senate, at that time a conservative military-appointed body, refused to endorse its candidate for prime minister.

The Election Commission had filed a petition against the party after the Constitutional Court ruled in January that it must stop advocating for changes to the law, known as Article 112, which protects the monarchy from criticism with penalties of up to 15 years in jail per offense. Move Forward has contended that it wants to keep the monarchy above politics and not exploited as a political tool.

The court on Wednesday also imposed a 10-year ban on political activity for those who held the party’s executive positions while it campaigned for the proposed amendment. Among them are its charismatic former leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, and current chief Chaithawat Tulathon.

Speaking to followers and the media Wednesday evening, Pita said he looks forward to continuing his work as an active citizen. He asked people to vent their frustration at the ballot box in every election from now on.

“I have left my dent in the universe,” he said. “And I’ll make sure that I pass the baton to the next-generation leaders.”

Lawmakers of a dissolved political party who are not banned from politics can keep their seats in parliament if they move to a new party within 60 days.

Pita said party members will carry on “in a new vehicle” to be introduced Friday, although he will not be a part of it. The party declined to announce details of the changeover.

The court’s action was one of many that have drawn widespread criticism and are seen as part of a years-long attack on the country’s progressive movement by conservative forces trying to keep their grip on power.

The party was denied power after the Senate refused to approve then-leader Pita’s nomination as prime minister. Non-elected senators, who were given power to vote on prime ministerial candidates by the constitution adopted in 2017 under a military government, said they opposed Pita because of his intention to reform the royal defamation law. Move Forward was later removed from a coalition formed with the now-governing Pheu Thai Party and became head of the opposition.

The court rejected Move Forward’s argument that it did not have jurisdiction to rule on the case and the petition filed by the Election Commission did not follow due process because Move Forward was not given an opportunity to defend itself before it was submitted to the court.

Human rights organizations and other advocacy groups expressed concern about the court’s ruling.

“The decision is a further illustration that the 2017 constitution, drafted at the behest of coupmakers and approved in a flawed referendum, was designed to curb the popular will rather than facilitate its expression,” Matthew Wheeler, a regional analyst for the Brussels-based Crisis Group, said in an email.

Thailand’s courts, especially the Constitutional Court, are considered a bulwark of the country’s royalist establishment, which has used them and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to issue rulings to cripple or sink political opponents.

Move Forward’s predecessor, the Future Forward Party, was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in 2020 on charges of violating election laws on donations to political parties. The dissolution of Future Forward, whose promises of reforms were particularly attractive for younger people disillusioned after years of military rule, further highlighted the struggle between the progressive movement and conservative forces.

It was also one of the triggers for youth-led pro-democracy protests that sprang up across the country in 2020. The protests openly criticized the monarchy, an institution previously considered untouchable and a linchpin of Thai society.

The protests led to vigorous prosecutions under Article 112, which previously had been relatively rarely employed. Critics say the law is often wielded as a tool to quash political dissent.

Move Forward, formed as a new home for lawmakers after Future Forward’s dissolution, campaigned for an amendment of the article and other democratic reforms in the 2023 elections. Its first-place finish suggested many voters were ready for change.

Saksornchai writes for the Associated Press.