Thailand’s Constitutional Court is due to deliver its rulings on the legality of the budget bill for 2020 fiscal year this Friday, and on the fate of the Future Forward party over the 191.2 million baht loan it accepted from party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit.
In the first case, House Speaker Chuan Leekpai asked the Constitutional Court to determine the legal status of the budget bill after about 90 government and opposition MPs questioned its legality due to proxy voting by three government MPs, who were absent from parliament for the vote.
The Constitutional Court has already considered the case and agreed that there is enough evidence to deliver a ruling without the need for an inquiry.
If the budget bill is ruled illegal, it will have a serious impact on all the Government’s development projects until the budget bill is legalized through a new round of voting.
The court is scheduled to rule on February 21st over the fate of the Future Forward party, regarding its acceptance of a loan, a case initiated by political activist Srisuwan Janya with the Election Commission, which submitted the case to the court for consideration.
The EC ruled that the loan was against Section 72 of the Political Party Act and recommended that the party should be dissolved in accordance with Section 92 (3) of the Constitution and Section 93 of Political Party Act.
The Future Forward party, however, contends that several other parties also obtained loans to fund their activities. It also claimed that a loan is not party revenue and, therefore, it is not against the Political Party Act.
In this case, the court has ruled that there is enough evidence from both parties, the EC and the party itself, to deliver a verdict without the need for an inquiry, as the party had demanded.
To assist in the consideration of the case, however, the court allowed the Future Forward party to submit written statements from 17 witnesses by February 12th.
Likewise, the EC is also allowed to submit its written opinions to the court by the same deadline.
