Thailand’s Election Commission has announced that it will seek the dissolution of the Progressive Party, which won last year’s general election, after a court ruled that its bill to amend the Royal Defamation Act was unconstitutional. .
The committee said after reviewing the Constitutional Court’s ruling in January, its members believe the proposal is an attempt to overthrow Thailand’s constitutional monarchy and have decided to file a lawsuit in court to dissolve the party. The agreement was unanimously announced.
It is unclear whether the court will accept the petition.
Move Forward’s progressive policies resonated with millions of young and urban voters, and it won a stunning victory over military-backed parties in May elections.
But the party’s plans to change the lese majeste law infuriated conservative MPs allied with royalist forces who blocked the party’s attempt to form a government.
If the party dissolves, its leaders could be banned from politics for 10 years.
Move Forward spokesperson Parit Watcharasindhu said the party’s legal team will “do everything in its power until the last moment to prevent the party from dissolving,” adding that proving innocence is “an appropriate standard in Thai politics.” It also helps in creating.” future. “
In January, the Constitutional Court ruled that the party’s proposed amendments to the lese majeste law constituted an attempt to subvert Thailand’s constitutional monarchy.
“There is evidence that moving forward would undermine the democratic system with the king as head of state,” the election commission said in a statement Tuesday.
Thailand’s lese majeste law carries penalties of up to 15 years in prison for each offense deemed to insult or defame the king, queen, heir or regent. Thailand’s monarchy is stipulated in the constitution as a place of “respected worship,” and many royalists consider lese majeste to be sacrosanct.
But rights activists say the law has been misused by conservative politicians to vilify liberal opponents and stifle institutional reform. More than 260 people have been charged under the law since 2020, including a man facing a record 50 years in prison over Facebook posts criticizing the monarchy. included.
The Forward Party argued that the purpose of the campaign to change Article 112 was to strengthen the constitutional monarchy and prevent abuse of the law.
“We have no intention of overthrowing a democratic system with the king as the head of state,” Palit told Reuters on Tuesday.
“I will prove my innocence in the Constitutional Court,” he said.
Pita Limjaronrat, who led the party to victory in the 2023 elections, said in an interview last month that Move Forward had a succession plan in the event of dissolution and that the party’s ideology would continue.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
