On August 7, 2024, the Constitutional Court disbanded the Move Forward Party (MFP) in a unanimous vote. The party continuously and seriously campaigned for the amendment of the lese-majeste law, which issues criminal sentences to those who defame the Thai monarchy. Thus, the nine judges ruled that the party is a threat to the constitutional monarchy and by extension guilty of jeopardizing national security.
Apart from dissolving MFP, the court also banned 11 party executives who held positions between March 25, 2021 and January 31, 2024 from running for elections or creating a new political party for 10 years. Among those banned, effective immediately, is party leader Pita Limjaroenrat. The party’s remaining members of Parliament (MP) have 60 days to join a new party or else they will lose their MP status.
Some say that this decision is a repeat of history, when the then Future Forward Party was dissolved in 2020 but then transformed itself into the Move Forward Party. That verdict sparked a new generation of student activists and ignited huge street protests. What happens next for MFP is unclear, but the party’s leaders have hinted they have prepared alternatives to continue their work toward the next election. All remaining MPs of the MFP will prepare to regroup under a new banner on August 9, 2024.
The State Department, in their press release, said that the “United States is deeply concerned” by the court’s ruling because the “decision disenfranchises the more than 14 million Thais who voted for the Move Forward party and … jeopardies Thailand’s democratic progress.”
