<
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/08/07/thailand-constitutional-court-dissolves-opposition-party>
"(Bangkok) – Thailand’s Constitutional Court dissolved the opposition Move
Forward Party on August 7, 2024, based on politically motivated allegations,
seriously damaging the country’s return to genuine democratic rule, Human
Rights Watch said today.
The nine-judge Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that the Move Forward
Party committed treason by advocating reform of Penal Code section 112 on
lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) and imposed 10-year political bans on all
of its executive members, who were in office from April 2021 to January 2024.
The case had been brought by the national Election Commission.
“The Thai Election Commission’s case against the Move Forward Party was a sham
right from the start,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights
Watch. “The Constitutional Court’s ruling to dissolve the Move Forward Party is
a severe blow to Thailand’s teetering efforts to restore democratic rule after
years of military dictatorship.”
The Election Commission accused the Move Forward Party, which won the largest
number of seats in the May 2023 general elections, of high treason and
petitioned the Constitutional Court to dissolve the party and impose the
maximum 10-year ban from politics on its executives under section 92 of the Act
on Political Parties. The Election Commission filed its petition in April
without allowing the party to counter the allegations.
The Election Commission’s case is based on the Constitutional Court’s ruling on
January 31 that the Move Forward Party’s campaign to amend the lèse-majesté law
amounted to an attempt to abolish Thailand’s constitutional democracy with the
king as head of state, contravening the constitution. Article 49 of Thailand’s
constitution prohibits people from using their rights and freedoms to overthrow
the monarchy.
The Constitutional Court referred to its January ruling, saying there was
evidence that the Move Forward Party tried to either change or revoke section
112 on March 25, 2021, when its 44 members of parliament submitted a bill to
amend the section. The court also ruled that party members in parliament gave
tacit support to monarchy reform movements by joining civil society activities
and providing bail guarantees to detained activists. The Constitutional Court
held that such actions showed an intent to subvert the monarchy, which is
“significantly dangerous to the security of the state.”
Disbanding the Move Forward Party violates the rights of its members to freedom
of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and democratic participation
guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR), which Thailand ratified in 1996, Human Rights Watch said."
Via David.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
