The Future Forward party has asked the Constitutional Court to rescind its order suspending its leader, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, from performing his duty as an MP and that the court proceedings on Thanathorn’s media ownership case be held openly.
The requests were made by the party secretary-general, Mr. Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, after the party’s lawyer submitted Thanathorn’s defence documents to the court.
Thanathorn did not show up at the court today, prompting a speculation that he might run away. Piyabutr confirmed, however, that Thanathorn would definitely return to defend his case but, for the time being, he is overseas on a vacation and working trip, which includes meetings with foreign media and politicians.
“The Future Forward party assures, once again, that there is no need whatsoever for Khun Thanathorn to run away because there is a big mission in Thailand still awaiting – that is the move of Thailand toward a new future, a change for the better for the country and to prove that Thanathorn will, one day, become the prime minister of Thailand with mass support,” said Piyabutr.
Thanathorn’s defence documents focus on three issues.
Firstly, they claim that the Election Commission (EC) is not empowered to consider the media ownership allegations.
Secondly, the EC’s deliberation procedure in this case was inappropriate due to its failure to observe the principle that it has to hear the views of all parties concerned. In this case, Thanathorn was not given the chance to provide enough clarification and the case was rushed to the Constitutional Court.
Thirdly, Thanathorn has held no shares in V-Luck Media Company since January 8th 2019.
Fourthly, even if Thanathorn had held shares in V-Luck Media, the company had already ceased operating a media business.
