Thai court orders dissolution of anti-establishment Move Forward party

7/8/2024 17:31

        Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of the popular anti-establishment opposition party, Move Forward, over its controversial campaign to amend a law that protects the powerful monarchy from criticism.
        
        The disbandment of the 2023 election winner is the latest setback for Thailand's major political parties, which remain embroiled in a tumultuous two-decade battle for power with an influential nexus of conservatives, old money families and royalist generals.
        
        The decision comes six months after the same court ordered Move Forward to drop its plan to reform a law on royal insults, ruling it was unconstitutional and risked undermining Thailand's system of governance with the king as head of state. Move Forward denies that.
        
        Though the dissolution is likely to anger millions of young and urban voters who backed Move Forward and its progressive agenda, the impact of the ruling is expected to be limited, with only the party's 11 current and former executives banned from politics for 10 years.
        
        That means 143 of its lawmakers will keep their seats and are expected to reorganise under a new party, as they did in 2020, when predecessor Future Forward was disbanded over a campaign funding violation.