Court dissolves Move Forward Party
published : 8 Aug 2024 at 07:53
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Online Reporters
The Constitutional Court on Wednesday disbanded the Move Forward Party (MFP) and banned its executives for 10 years.
The nine judges said the party posed a threat to the constitutional monarchy and national security by campaigning for the amendment of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law.
The court said that the party proposed Section 112 be amended to separate wrongdoings under the section from other offences against national security, make wrongdoers eligible for pardon and enable settlement.
According to the court, such attempts diminished the value of the royal institution, showed intention to abuse the royal institution for political gain in the general election, hurt people’s faith in the institution and affected national security.
The court also banned 11 Move Forward executives from running for elections, setting up a new political party or taking part in forming a new party for 10 years.
Among those banned, effective immediately, are Move Forward chief adviser Pita Limjaroenrat and party leader Chaithawat Tulathon. Six of those banned were sitting list-MPs.
The party’s 142 remaining MPs, meanwhile, have 60 days to find a new party or lose their MP status.
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Vocabulary
- amendment: a change made to a law or agreement, in this case, to the constitution - การแก้ไขกฎหมาย ในที่นี้หมายถึงการแก้ไขรัฐธรรมนูญ
- Constitutional Court (noun): the court that decides whether or not laws follow the constitution - ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ
- disbanded: (of a group) dissolved; ended; stopped working together - ถูกยุบ
- dissolve (verb): to officially end a group, a marriage, business agreement, etc. - ยุติ,สิ้นสุด, ยุบ
- institution: an important tradition or system upon which society is based - สถาบัน
- judge: someone whose job is to make decisions in a court of law - ตุลาการ, ผู้พิพากษา
- lese-majeste (adj): the crime of offending, threatening or showing disrespect for a member of the royal family - หมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ
- monarchy (noun): the king or queen of a country and their family - ราชวงศ์, พระบรมวงศานุวงศ์
- pardon: an official decision to forgive someone for committing a crime and to free them from full or further punishment - การอภัยโทษ
- party: an organized group of people who have similar ideas about the way in which a country should be governed, and who work together to try to persuade people to vote for them in elections - พรรค การเมือง
- security: protection; safety from attack, harm, or damage - ความมั่นคง, ระบบรักษาความปลอดภั, ความปลอดภัย
- threat: a danger - อันตราย
- wrongdoing: breaking the law or doing something "wrong" - กระทำผิดศีลธรรม, ละเมิดกฎหมาย
