Thailand’s core opposition People’s Party is facing a new threat to its future after the anticorruption watchdog indicted 44 former Move Forward MPs on charges of breaching ethical standards by sponsoring a 2021 motion to amend the lese majeste law.
Twenty-five of those charged by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) last week are current MPs of the People’s Party. The indicted 44 also include eight banned former executives and 11 ex-MPs of Move Forward, which was dissolved by court order last year.
The indicted MPs insist their backing of the amendment was legal, pointing out that lawmakers have the authority to propose new laws.
Threat of lifelong ban
The NACC will now question the 44 MPs before deciding whether to refer the case to the Supreme Court directly or via public prosecutors. If found guilty, the MPs would be barred from contesting elections for life and banned from holding political office or voting for up to 10 years.
Many of those indicted are key figures in the main opposition party. Banning them from politics would further weaken the People’s Party, after its two predecessors were disbanded by court order and saw their star politicians banned from politics.
The NACC case stems from a petition lodged by lawyer Theerayut Suwankesorn in February last year.
The petition came soon after the Constitutional Court ordered Move Forward to cease all attempts to abolish or amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code, aka the lese majeste law, through “any illegitimate legal procedure”.
The court ruled that Move Forward’s campaign on the issue threatened to undermine the Thai monarchy and thus deemed it an attempt to overthrow the country’s constitutional monarchy.
Third incarnation
The People’s Party is the third incarnation of the pro-democracy reformist outfit born as Future Forward in March 2018.
Future Forward was dissolved in February 2020 after the Constitutional Court ruled that a party loan of 191 million baht by leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit was an illegal donation under the Political Parties Act.
All 16 party executives, including Thanathorn, were banned from politics for 10 years.
The second incarnation, Move Forward, lasted barely four years before being disbanded last August when the Constitutional Court ruled it had undermined the political system with the King as head of state by seeking to amend Article 112.
The court also imposed a 10-year political ban on the party’s 11 executives, including leader Pita Limjaroenrat.
Party leaders at risk
The 25 indicted People’s Party lawmakers comprise 17 list MPs and eight constituency MPs. Many of the list MPs also hold executive posts, including party leader Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, deputy leaders Sirikanya Tansakun, Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, and Rangsiman Rome.
The eight banned former Move Forward executives among those indicted are Pita, former deputy House speaker Padipat Suntiphada, Somchai Fungcholjit, Amarat Chokepamitkul, Benja Saengchan, Nateepat Kulsetthasith, Suthep U-on, and Apichat Sirisoontron.
Of the 11 indicted former Move Forward MPs, several serve as People’s Party executives, while others failed to get elected in the 2023 general election after defecting to alternative parties.
Previous cases
Numerous politicians have been banned from politics for severe ethical violations since the current Constitution was enacted in April 2017.
These include Pannika Wanich, a key figure and former spokesperson of Future Forward, who was found guilty of breaching political ethics by the Supreme Court in 2023.
The case stemmed from a picture deemed disrespectful to the monarchy that she posted on Facebook in 2010.
Government politicians have not been immune from political bans. In April 2022, the Supreme Court found Palang Pracharath Party MP Pareena Kraikupt guilty of a severe ethical breach for encroaching on state forestland. The court banned her from politics for life and rescinded her voting rights for 10 years.
