Thai election authorities seek to dissolve poll-winning Move Forward Party
Al Jazeera
Election commission says reformist party’s bid to change lese-majeste law undermines governance system but MFP promises to ‘prove innocence’.
Thailand’s election commission has taken action aimed at disbanding the Move Forward Party (MFP), a reformist party that finished first in last year’s election on a progressive platform.
The polling body said on Tuesday that it would ask the constitutional court to dissolve the MFP, whose campaign include a promise to change strict laws against insulting the country’s royals that outraged Thailand’s conservative elite.
The move follows the court’s ruling in January that the MFP’s plans to change the lese-majeste law shielding the monarchy from any criticism or mockery violated the constitution.
Having studied the ruling, which deemed that proposed amendments to article 112 of the criminal code constituted an attempt to destroy Thailand’s constitutional monarchy, the commission said it had decided “unanimously” that the party should be disbanded.
“There is evidence that Move Forward undermines the democratic system with the king as the head of state,” it said in a statement.
