Photo: Thaksin Shinawatra (L) and Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit (R)
Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has dismissed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s claim that the now defunct Move Forward party’s exclusion from the coalition government led by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin stems from the party’s refusal to tone down its demand for amendment of the lèse majesté law.
“Thaksin knows very well why the Move Forward did not join the Pheu Thai coalition. It had nothing to do with Section 112 (the lèse majesté law),” Thanathorn wrote in his Facebook post on Thursday night.
In his first political rally in Udon Thani in almost two decades, Thaksin told the crowd that he had told Thanathorn not to persist with the demand for reform of the monarchy, because the Thai people still respect the institution and the coalition alliance will leave that law intact.
Thanathorn noted that Thaksin’s claim could lead to public misunderstanding, that both of them had discussed the lèse majesté law or had a conflict over the issue which was untrue, because the issue had never been discussed between them, nor was it a condition for joining the coalition government.
There were other reasons which led to the Move Forward party opting out of joining the coalition, claimed Thanathorn, adding that Thaksin should know better about the structural problems of Thailand, including the monarchy, “but he (Thaksin) chose to be a part of the problems,” he continued.
