31-1-2024 (BANGKOK) A Thai court on Wednesday ruled that the Move Forward Party, the biggest party in parliament, had violated the constitution by seeking to amend a law against insulting the monarchy. The ruling could set a significant precedent for any future review of Thailand’s strict lese majeste laws, considered among the world’s toughest.
The Move Forward Party, elected last year on a progressive platform, proposed amending the lese majeste law, which imposes penalties of up to 15 years in jail for each perceived insult to Thailand’s revered monarchy. However, the Constitutional Court deemed this proposal an attempt to “overthrow the democratic regime of government with the king as a head of state”, declaring it unconstitutional.
In a country where reverence for the monarch is deeply ingrained in national identity, the lese majeste law is considered sacrosanct. Over the past few years, at least 260 people have faced prosecution under this law.
Move Forward’s proposal stirred controversy among conservatives and led to the party’s efforts to form a government being thwarted by lawmakers allied with the royalist military.
While the court did not specify punishments for Move Forward, there are suggestions that legal measures could be pursued to dissolve the party and impose political bans on its leaders due to their stance on the monarchy law.
This court case is the latest episode in Thailand’s ongoing power struggle, which pits royalists, the military, and old money families against parties advocating populist or progressive agendas.
The party’s predecessor, Future Forward, was dissolved for violating campaign funding rules, and its former leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was disqualified over a shareholding issue, underscoring the challenges faced by progressive movements in Thailand.
