Constitutional Court resolves to try Move Forward as charged by EC
The Constitutional Court voted Wednesday to proceed with a judiciary review of a case filed by the Election Commission accusing the Move Forward party of attempting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Constitutional Court judges debated the case filed by the EC against Move Forward and resolved that there were grounds to suspect the party had violated Article 92 of the organic law on political parties.
The court resolved to send a copy of the EC’s petition to Move Forward and ask it to submit its written defence to the court within 15 days.
On March 12, the EC members voted unanimously to seek the dissolution of Move Forward, the biggest opposition party. The EC move followed complaints filed with the election agency by Ruangkrai Leekitwattana and Theerayut Suwankesorn, two serial petitioners.
The complainants claimed that Move Forward was in breach of Section 92 of the organic law on political parties. The law allows the EC to ask the court for the dissolution of any parties found to have attempted to scrap the country’s constitutional monarchy system.
Both complainants cited the charter court’s decision on January 31 ordering Move Forward to cease all attempts to abolish or amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese majeste law. The January 31 ruling stated that the Move Forward’s attempt to amend Article 112 was tantamount to seeking to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
On March 20, the court asked the EC to re-submit its petition within seven days, saying the first draft was ambiguous. The EC met the deadline.
In the revised petition, the EC alleged that Move Forward had conducted behaviour deemed aggressive to the democratic system with King being the head of the state and thus violating Article 92 of the charter.
The revised petition asked he court to dissolve the party and ban its executives from politics, and prohibit them from setting up a new party as well.
