Disbanded Thai opposition Move Forward to form new party, denies antagonising monarchy

BANGKOK — Thailand's disbanded Move Forward Party will form a new party this week, its leaders said on Aug 7, adding that it did not antagonise the constitutional monarchy as described in a court ruling that ordered the party's dissolution.

Thailand's Constitutional Court on Aug 7 ordered the dissolution of Move Forward, ruling that its campaign to amend a law that protects the monarchy from criticism risked undermining the democratic system.

Hours after the decision, leader Chaithawat Tulathon told a media conference that the court ruling had set a dangerous precedent for the way the Constitution is interpreted.

Leaders of the disbanded opposition party announced that the surviving 143 lawmakers would regroup and form a new party on Aug 9, as they did in 2020, when predecessor Future Forward was dissolved over a campaign funding violation.

Deputy leader Sirikanya Tansakul said the new vehicle, which would be the biggest party in Parliament, would take on the same core ideology and would not neglect its promises to the electorate.

"We will not abandon our dream and our mission and duty that was tasked to us," she said.

"As long as the people are alongside us and support us to change this country, we will continue forward."

The disbandment of Move Forward, which won the most seats in the 2023 election, is the latest setback for Thailand's major political parties that are embroiled in a two-decade battle for power against a nexus of influential conservatives, old money families and the royalist military.

The dissolution could anger millions of young and urban voters who backed Move Forward and its progressive agenda. But the impact of the ruling could be minimal, with only its 11 party executives — including former leader Pita Limjaroenrat — receiving 10-year political bans as a result of the verdict.

"Let's be sad today for one day, but tomorrow we will move on. And let's release the frustration through the next ballot we will cast in the next election," Pita told a news conference.

The decision comes six months after the same court ordered Move Forward to drop its plan to reform a law on royal insults, ruling it was unconstitutional and tantamount to undermining the system of governance with the king as head of state.

In a unanimous ruling that cited the court's January decision, the judges said Move Forward had improperly used the monarchy to gain an election advantage, putting the palace in conflict with the people.

"The action of the accused is therefore an action that may antagonise the democratic system with the king as the head of state," they said in the ruling.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn has been on the throne for seven years. The monarch is enshrined in the Constitution as being in a position of "revered worship" and the palace is seen by royalists as sacrosanct. Perceived insults of the monarchy are punishable by up to 15 years in jail.

Threat to status quo

Move Forward's leaders said the ruling set a dangerous precedent for how the Constitution can been interpreted.

They said the party had not antagonised the constitutional monarchy nor did it have any intention of treason, insurrection or separating the monarchy from the country.

Move Forward's influential rivals coalesced to block the party from forming a government in 2023, but the progressive movement remains a political force and a threat to the status quo, bent on pursuing a platform that includes military reform and undoing big business monopolies.

Those policies have put it on a collision course with powerful groups at the heart of an intractable crisis that since 2006 has seen two coups, the removal of four prime ministers, dissolution of multiple parties and crippling, at times violent, street protests.

However, it is not yet out of the woods, with 44 of its current and former politicians, including 26 legislators, the subject of a complaint to an anti-graft body by conservative activists seeking lifetime political bans over the campaign to change the royal insults law.

Some supporters called for protests against the decision. At Move Forward's headquarters, its loyalists expressed both disappointment and disbelief at the ruling.

"It feels like we have hit rock bottom, truly hit rock bottom," said Sirinapa Veillet, 58. "It feels like we have no support left, none at all," she said of Thailand's democratic institutions.

Amnesty International in a statement called the ruling an "untenable decision" and said the authorities were relentlessly harassing the political opposition.

The United States is "deeply concerned" by the Thai Constitutional Court's order to dissolve Move Forward and urges the country to ensure inclusive political participation, the US State Department said on Aug 7.

"The United States does not take a position in support of any political party, but as a close ally and friend with deep and enduring ties, we urge Thailand to take actions to ensure fully inclusive political participation, and to protect democracy and the freedoms of association and expression," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Move Forward's disbandment comes at a critical juncture in Thai politics, with cracks appearing in an uneasy truce between the military-backed establishment and another long-time rival, the populist ruling party Pheu Thai. Pheu Thai and its past incarnations have suffered most from Thailand's coups and judicial interventions.

The Constitutional Court will next week decide on a case brought by 40 conservative former senators seeking to dismiss Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin over his appointment to Cabinet of a lawyer who served time in jail. He denies wrongdoing.

Srettha's case is among factors that have heightened political uncertainty, with the prospect of political upheaval if he is removed.

A new premier would need to be voted on by Parliament, potentially pitting Pheu Thai against coalition partners and leading to a shake-up of the governing alliance and realignment of Cabinet and policies.

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