The Move Forward party has challenged the authority of the Constitutional Court to dissolve a political party, and debar its executives from politics, and the legitimacy of the petition filed by the Election Commission seeking such redress.
The party’s challenges are contained in its closing submission, recently sent to the court and which was disclosed today by party leader Chaithawat Tulathon and its former leader Pita Limjaroenrat.
Chaithawat said that, although the constitutions from 1997 until 2007 gave the court the power to dissolve a political party, such a power is not stipulated in the current charter, even though it is in the Political Parties Act.
As such, he insisted that the Constitutional Court is not authorised to dissolve a party or to ban its executive committee members from contesting elections, in the event that the ruling in the case goes against it.
He also said that the dissolution of the Future Forward party, the predecessor of Move Forward, cannot be cited as a precedent in the Move Forward party’s extant dissolution case.
He also claimed that the EC did not follow its own procedures in filing its petition and that the petition is, thus, illegal, adding that the EC failed to provide an opportunity for the party to defend itself.
Pita, meanwhile, pointed out that there is a line that distinguishes the Move Forward party’s dissolution case from similar cases in the past. Previously, there was no rule, written by the EC, requiring the commission to gather evidence to substantiate its demand for the dissolution of a party.
The case against Move Forward under this new rule is, therefore, the first of its kind, claimed the party’s chief advisor.
Pita disclosed that, since 2006, 33 parties have been disbanded and 249 politicians debarred from politics. Only one party survived, because the EC’s petition was dismissed by the court as lacking legitimacy.
The former party leader also said that, under a constitutional democracy, the Monarchy cannot be protected by way of the forced suppression of dissenting opinions of the institution, adding that there must be a balance between democracy and the Monarchy, so the two institutions can co-exist sustainably and with the approval of the public.
He explained that the party’s advocacy for amendment of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lèse majesté law, was intended to maintain this balance.
Pita dismissed speculation that the Move Forward party had already set up a ‘reserve’ party, in case it is dissolved by the court on August 7th.
If the party is dissolved, its ten executive committee members will be debarred from contesting elections. Among them are Pita, Chaithawat and Padipat Suntiphada, currently the Deputy House Speaker.
