Charter court could decide on petition to disband Move Forward in 2 months: ex-EC
The Constitutional Court could hand its verdict on the petition by the Election Commission (EC) seeking the dissolution of the Move Forward Party in less than two months, a former election commissioner said on Wednesday.
The EC on Tuesday voted unanimously to seek the dissolution of the main opposition party following a verdict by the Constitutional Court over the party’s Article 112 stand.
On January 31, the charter court had ordered Move Forward to cease all attempts to abolish or amend Article 112, or the lese majeste law, of the Criminal Code, saying its constant campaigning on the issue would undermine the Thai monarchy. It also deemed the move as an attempt to overthrow the country’s constitutional monarchy as per Article 49 of the Constitution.
The EC also called on the Constitutional Court to ban Move Forward executives from contesting in future elections.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, former election commissioner Somchai Srisutthiyakorn said that Move Forward, which won the most MP seats in the May 2023 election, could be facing the following worst-case scenarios:
1. The Constitutional Court could hand its verdict on EC’s petition in less than two months, as there will be no need to re-examine the case. However, the court could allow the defendants to explain themselves during hearings.
2. According to the EC’s interpretation, the court verdict of January had found Move Forward guilty of violating Article 92 (1) and (2) of the Political Party Act of 2017, which calls for disbandment of the party and a ban on the party’s executives from contesting future elections for life.
3. A total of 10 Move Forward executives could be affected if a lifetime ban is imposed, including party leader, secretary-general, treasurer and registrar.
4. The 44 Move Forward MPs who had signed the draft to amend Article 112, however, will not be affected if a party disbandment verdict is issued. However, the court could forward the case to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to consider the MPs for serious violation of ethical standards under Article 234 (1) of the Constitution. If the NACC finds them guilty, these MPs could be banned from contesting in future elections for life, as well as from voting for 10 years.
5. The NACC’s processing of the case up until the Supreme Court level should take another year. If found guilty, the accused will be punished no matter which new party they moved to.
