Piyabutr has reservations about verdict to disband Move Forward Party
The dissolution of a political party on the charge of being hostile to the constitutional monarchy system of governance would not benefit Thailand, prominent political figure Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said on Wednesday.
He made this remark in response to the Constitutional Court ruling on Wednesday to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP), while also revoking the electoral rights of its executive committee members for 10 years.
The ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Election Commission, accusing Move Forward of violating the organic law on political parties by carrying out an election campaign that could be deemed an attempt to topple the constitutional monarchy system.
Piyabutr, who is secretary-general of the political action group, Progressive Movement, said during his lecture at the Move Forward headquarters in Bangkok that the problem stemmed from Thailand’s 1997 constitution, which had been copied from Western countries to meet the global trends.
He argued that the constitution was made based on political issues that happened in the West, such as the rise of Nazi Germany led by politician Adolf Hitler. Western people thought of the Constitutional Court and party dissolution to cope with such cases, he said.
“Thailand did not have experiences similar to Western countries before 1997,” he said. He added that people who had authority used the 1997 constitution inappropriately until it completely changed from the original.
Piyabutr further explained that most of the political parties that were dissolved so far were due to hiring small parties and violating election law. He pointed out that only Thai Save the Nation and Move Forward faced dissolution for acting hostile to the constitutional monarchy system.
“The Constitutional Court has given reasons for the decision to disband the Thai Save the Nation and Move Forward parties as it involves the monarchy,” he said, adding that it would have been acceptable if those parties were disbanded for violating laws.
Thai Save the Nation Party faced dissolution in March 2019 for acting hostile to the constitutional monarchy system by including Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi in the party’s Prime Minister list.
