Thai politics on edge as court decides fate of anti-establishment party

7/8/2024 6:57

        A court in Thailand will decide on Wednesday the fate of the progressive opposition party, Move Forward, in a case that has compounded fears of a
        re-igniting of a power struggle between influential conservatives and popularly elected parties.
        
        The Constitutional Court will rule on the poll body's request to dissolve the 2023 election winner Move Forward after the same court in January found its campaign to amend a law protecting the monarchy from criticism risked undermining Thailand's system of governance with the king as head of state.
        
        Move Forward's anti-establishment agenda won huge support among voters but it clashed with Thailand's powerful nexus of old money families, conservatives and the military, to which reforming the lese-majeste law is a step too far in a country where royalists regard the monarchy as sacrosanct.
        
        Move Forward's influential rivals coalesced to block the party from forming a government last year but it remains the biggest force in parliament with an agenda that includes military reform and undoing big business monopolies.