Future Forward Party in hot water over lecture

Future Forward Party in hot water over lecture

Party dubbed 'a den of anti-monarchists'

Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, right, secretary-general of the Future Forward Party, talks to reporters with the presence of its leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit in Bangkok in January. (File photo)
Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, right, secretary-general of the Future Forward Party, talks to reporters with the presence of its leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit in Bangkok in January. (File photo)

A group of political activists calling itself the "Political Civic Group" has asked the Election Commission (EC) to dissolve the Future Forward Party (FFP) for trying to subvert the monarchy.

"The violation is clearly outlined in Section 92 of the organic law on political parties," said Surawat Sangkharoek, president of the group, who submitted the petitioned to the EC on Monday.

He also submitted pictures and video clips of the party's rallies to the EC as evidence to back up the group's claim against the FFP.

"The EC should acknowledge the FFP as a threat to national security and the monarchy," he said. "The party is a den of anti-monarchists, whose members have used anti-monarchy rhetoric to instigate hatred against the revered institution," Mr Surawat said.

In response to the report, FFP secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul on Monday took to Facebook to say that there have been numerous attempts to mislead the public, including several "doctored" video clips and pictures to cast him in a negative light.

Mr Piyabutr was referring to a recording of a lecture he gave on Feb 17, 2013, when he worked as a law lecturer at Thammasat University.

The secretary-general, who received his doctorate degree in law in France, is well-known for his passionate interest in the Thai monarchy and democracy.

In the lecture, Mr Piyabutr said that he was talking about the principles of democracy to explain why monarchs should be "above politics" -- because a monarch inherits the throne and is not democratically elected.

As such, monarchies should be repositioned in a manner that is consistent with democratic values, the way other constitutional monarchies across the globe are, said Mr Piyabutr.

However, Mr Piyabutr said that the video clip was edited to mislead the public into thinking he was only talking about the Thai monarchy, instead of about legal principles under the constitution.

"Those who want to vilify me used only certain parts of my lecture from six years ago when I was still a lecturer without describing the exact context of the lecture," he said.

"As if it wasn't enough, they used the FFP logo to lead people to believe that I was talking in the capacity of the secretary-general of the FFP."

Mr Piyabutr also said in the Facebook post that "educated people" will be able to see that such attempts were clearly done to ruin his reputation.

There have been many attempts to bring down political rivals and activists by accusing them of propagating anti-monarchy rhetoric, he said.

"This created political divisions and conflicts that eventually opened the door for the military to step in."

Only a stable democracy can protect the monarchy and its dignity, he said.

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