EC pushes for Move Forward’s disbandment over Article 112 verdict
The Election Commission voted unanimously to seek the dissolution of Move Forward Party after the Constitutional Court ruled the party had violated the charter by campaigning to amend the lese majeste law.
The five election commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to push for Move Forward’s dissolution in line with complaints filed by “master petitioner” Ruangkrai Leekitwattana and lawyer Theerayut Suwankesorn.
On January 31, the court ordered Move Forward to cease all attempts to abolish or amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code or the lese majeste law, saying its constant campaigning on the issue would undermine the Thai monarchy. It also deemed the move as an attempt to overthrow the country’s constitutional monarchy as per Article 49 of the Constitution.
On the following day, Ruangkrai and Theerayut, whose petition had led to the court verdict against Move Forward, filed complaints with the EC seeking the party’s disbandment.
Before the EC commissioners voted, they considered the result of the EC’s interpretation of the written verdict, which was published in the Royal Gazette on February 29.
According to the EC’s interpretation, the verdict found Move Forward guilty of violating Article 92 (1) of the Political Party Act of 2017.
The EC also called on the Constitutional Court to ban Move Forward executives from contesting future elections.
However, in its verdict, the court had only asked Move Forward to halt its attempts to amend Article 112 because Theerayut did not ask the court to dissolve the party but only asked it to order the action be halted.
