The Constitution Court yesterday rejected a petition filed by former senator Ruangkrai Leekitwattana seeking the dissolution of the opposition Democrat Party.
Court spokesman, Pimol Thampithakpong, said the five judges on the bench yesterday reached a unanimous decision to throw out the ex-senator's petition.
Mr Ruangkrai had accused 11 Democrat MPs, led by Wirat Kalayasiri of Songkhla, of trying to restrict the public's right to protect the charter, in violation of Section 68 of the constitution. He asked the court to dissolve the party on this basis. The 11 Democrat MPs now sit on a committee scrutinising a bill to amend sections 68 and 237 of the constitution.
Their serving on the scrutiny panel could be deemed as trying to change Section 68 to deprive the public of the right to protect the charter, Mr Ruangkrai claimed.
Section 68 allows members of the public to ask the charter court to examine moves that could undermine the constitutional monarchy or grab power through unconstitutional means.
If the section is amended, the power to accept or reject public petitions will rest only with the attorney-general as the public will no longer be able to file their cases directly with the charter court.
Mr Pimol said the petition was rejected on the ground there was no evidence that the Democrats had violated Section 68 as alleged.
In the petition, Mr Ruangkrai also asked the court to issue an injunction temporarily suspending the 11 Democrat MPs from serving on the scrutiny committee until the court ruled on the matter.
But as the court has now rejected the petition, there was no need to consider the injunction request, Mr Pimol said.
The court also agreed by a vote of 5-3 to accept a separate petition filed by a group of people led by Bovorn Yasinthorn.
The petition seeks a ruling on whether 312 MPs and senators, led by House Speaker Somsak Kiatsuranont, had deprived the people of the right to protect the constitution by supporting a bill to amend sections 68 and 237.
Meanwhile, Senator Prasarn Marukpitak yesterday lodged a petition with the Office of the Ombudsman asking it to investigate whether the 312 lawmakers had violated the constitution.
Mr Prasarn accused the MPs and the senators of violating Section 122 of the constitution by proposing the bill to amend Section 68 and several sections relating to senators.
Section 122 stipulates that MPs and senators must perform their duties honestly without any conflicts of interest.
Mr Prasarn said both the MPs and senators had conspired to seek mutual benefits. The change to Section 237 will work to the benefit of the MPs as political parties will not be disbanded if their executives committed electoral fraud. The senators, on the other hand, stand to gain from Section 117 which would allow them to serve two terms in a row.