Thailand’s most popular politician was barred from politics for ten years, and his party was disbanded on Wednesday, for his efforts to amend ancient royal defamation rules.
Bangkok’s Constitutional Court decided “unanimously” to dissolve the Move Forward Party (MFP) and prohibit its executive board, including former leader Pita Limjaroenrat, for ten years, according to judge Punya Udchachon.
Pita, 43, led the reformist MFP to a surprise victory in a general election last year after appealing to youthful and urban voters with his promise to change Thailand’s draconian royal defamation law.
“Let’s be sad today for one day but tomorrow we will move on and let’s release the frustration through the next ballot we will cast in the next election,” Pita told a news conference on Wednesday evening.
His bid to become prime minister was blocked by conservative forces in the Senate. A coalition of army-linked parties took office instead under Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The European Union and rights groups blasted the court’s decision, which the EU said harmed democratic openness in Thailand.
“No democratic system can function without a plurality of parties and candidates,” an EU spokesperson said in a statement.
Amnesty International described the decision as “untenable” and said it showed that laws in Thailand were being used to intimidate critics, while the Asian Forum for Human Rights said it posed “serious risks to democratic principles”.
Blocked
Pita’s political future was already imperiled in March, when Thailand’s electoral authority petitioned the Supreme Court to dissolve the MFP.
That came after a finding that the party’s promise to modify the lese-majeste legislation constituted a plot to subvert the constitutional monarchy.
Lese-majeste allegations are highly serious in Thailand, where King Maha Vajiralongkorn holds a quasi-divine position that elevates him above politics.
Dozens of supporters wearing the party’s signature orange gathered in front of the MFP headquarters in Bangkok.
Siriporn Tanapitiporn, a 53-year-old food market trader, sobbing as the verdict was read.
“But I have faith in the younger generation, they will return the democracy back to our country,” she said.
Sakhorn Kamtalang, 60, said the court didn’t have the right to dissolve the party.
“To me, Pita is my PM. The current PM is just a salesman, who isn’t fit as the country leader,” she said.
Weaponisation of courts –
Pita arrived in parliament in high spirits earlier on Wednesday, telling MPs that he believed in the kingdom’s judicial system.
He warned against the weaponization of Thailand’s legal system, telling AFP in an interview before the verdict that 33 parties had been dissolved in the previous two decades, including “four major ones that were popularly elected”.
“We should not normalise this behaviour or accept the use of a politicised court as a weapon to destroy political parties,” he said.
The MFP now holds 148 seats in Thailand’s 500-seat parliament, and Pita stated that if the party is disbanded, its executive will form a new vehicle.
The MFP later announced that it would relaunch on Friday.
Pita first debuted on the political stage in 2018 as a member of the progressive Future Forward Party (FFP), which was disbanded in 2020, prompting months of large youth-led rallies in Bangkok.
Tens of thousands came to the streets during the rallies, with many voicing unprecedented public criticism of the royal family as well as demands for transparency and reform.
Following the protests, over 270 persons were charged with lese-majeste, including two elected MPs.
According to New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), the lese-majeste law is commonly used to muzzle political criticism.
According to HRW’s 2024 World Report, Thai authorities charged at least 258 people with lese-majeste for their participation in democratic protests or comments on social media last year.
Thailand, Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, is noted for its chronic instability, having seen a dozen coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932.