Thai justice banned popular opposition figure Pita Limjaroenrat from politics for ten years and dissolved his pro-democracy party on Wednesday in a case related to the lese majeste law that opens a new cycle of instability.
Thailand’s main opposition party has vowed to continue its pro-democracy campaign in a new guise after a court dissolved it and banned its leading figure, Pita Limjaroenrat, for 10 years on Wednesday.
The judges of the Constitutional Court voted unanimously to dissolve Move Forward (MFP), accused of wanting to destabilize the monarchy.
The move, criticized by human rights groups, opens a new cycle of uncertainty in a divided kingdom, amid the strengthening of economic and military elites who defend the interests of the monarchy.
“Let’s be sad today, for one day, but let’s move forward tomorrow, and release our frustration in the next ballot we cast,” Pita Limjaroenrat said at a press conference in Bangkok.
“We will never leave you,” insisted the charismatic leader, surrounded on stage by several MFP members dressed in black.
The winner of the 2023 elections loses his or her mandate as a member of parliament and the right to run until 2034, the judges ruled, who similarly sentenced 10 other party officials, including current secretary general Chaithawat Tulathon.
Members of the dissolved party have vowed to take up the torch, in a new structure that will be unveiled Friday, according to an official. A video, posted on MFP’s X account minutes after the dissolution was announced, touted the movement’s “indestructible” ideas and the “beginning of a new journey.”
“Pita until death”
In front of the party headquarters in Bangkok, several dozen supporters dressed in orange, the MFP’s colour, gathered, an AFP journalist noted.
“I will continue to support Pita until death,” said Hua Jaidee, 69, a university cleaner who believes that in Thailand, “good people always end up being mistreated” by the establishment.
The darling of the new generations, Pita Limjaroenrat has tried to breathe a breath of fresh air into a kingdom where political life is dominated by aging figures connected to powerful families or the army.
Telegenic, Harvard-educated, divorced, active on social media, the candidate lent his face to Move Forward’s disruptive program, which included a new Constitution, reduced military spending and the end of certain monopolies.
The party was also the only one to dare to mention a reform of the lèse-majesté law, which was considered out of control and used by the government to repress dissidents.
This promise, seen as an attempt to overthrow the monarchy, earned Move Forward the prosecution that led to its dissolution.
The charges are extremely serious in Thailand, where King Maha Vajiralongkorn enjoys a near-deity status that places him above the political fray. Any insult targeting the monarch or his family can earn him up to 15 years in prison.
The party has always denied any illegal maneuvers. It has pointed out the interference of institutions controlled by its political opponents to the detriment of popular expression.
“Indefensible decision”
The dissolution of Move Forward is “not a surprise” in a system where “there are only powers, and no counter-powers”, according to political scientist Napisa Waitoolkiat.
Over the past 20 years, judges have dissolved around thirty political parties, according to a count by MFP.
The US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” by the conviction, which “runs counter to the aspirations of the Thai people for a strong and democratic future.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has deplored a “setback for pluralism and democracy in Thailand”.
The judges made “an indefensible decision that reveals the authorities’ utter disregard for Thailand’s international human rights obligations,” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s senior director for regional human rights impact, said in a statement.
The 2020 ban on Future Forward, the forerunner of Move Forward, led to major protests, which were extinguished by the pandemic and the authorities’ crackdown on the movement’s main figures, in many cases under the lèse-majesté law.
Last year, the vote by MPs and senators that rejected Pita Limjaroenrat’s candidacy as Prime Minister, despite the support of a majority coalition in the Assembly, did not spark strong protests in the streets.
More than 14 million Thais – an unprecedented result in more than 10 years – voted for Move Forward in the legislative elections, to turn the page on a near-decade of domination by the military, which emerged from a putsch in 2014, which has widened inequality and hampered growth.
Pita Limjaroenrat remains well ahead in popularity polls.