The Constitutional Court on Wednesday finally ordered the Move Forward Party (MFP), the winning party of last year's general election, to be dissolved. Eleven executive members face a ten-year ban from politics. The charges and penalty relate to accusations against the MFP's activities and public campaigns to amend Section 112, known as the lese majeste law.
The court states that MFP's campaign threatens the constitutional monarchy as campaign activities can separate people's relations with the monarchy, which is considered a revered institution and treated as a national security issue in Thailand.
The institution is symbolically portrayed as a unifying force that binds all Thais together as a nation and is the heart of "Thainess".
The dissolution of the MFP was not a surprise. Yet, the many MFP supporters -- the party won 14 million votes last year -- might not get over it. Their collective despair is understandable. In Thailand's political landscape, MFP is the only progressive political party in a pool of other mainstream parties populated with Thai-style politicians enfranchised by national and political dynasties.
The dissolution of the MFP will not end the political future of what drove it in the first place. It is believed that the next version of this progressive party will get a windfall from supportive sentiments and again come back stronger, like the MFP, which won the 2023 Thai general election with flying colours. Its genesis, the Future Forward Party, disbanded over four years ago, got 6 million votes in the general election a few years before.
If this trend continues, it would not be surprising if the new party could potentially gain in the long term in the next election, which will likely take place in the next three years.
Today, Thailand is not a traditional society. Thainess and conservative principles might reign supreme as they did when Thailand was known as Siam and faced the threat of outside imperialism.
The MFP's success comes from its representation of the opposite of conservative ideas that have undergirded the country for a long time. Pita Limjaroenrat, the leader of the MFP, who has now been banned from politics for ten years, has proved that political newcomers can assert their power and influence because of the increasing demand for liberty and freedom amongst younger generations.
Most of the 147 MFP's MPs are new faces -- many are ordinary people from all walks of life. Their path to the Upper Chamber and subsequent performances in checking government and corruption send a clear message that ordinary people can enter politics without the enfranchisement of ban yai, such as the Bhumjaithai Party or political dynasties like the Shinawatra-owned Pheu Thai Party.
The Constitutional Court's verdict on Wednesday leaves valid questions about the judiciary's role and Thailand's parliamentary democracy. The verdict prioritises national security over liberty and freedom. Such national sovereignty will override and conflict with parliamentary sovereignty, which gives elected lawmakers supreme power to decide the content of the law, while no other institutions shall have the power to overrule this democratic principle.
Under parliamentary sovereignty, discussions and public discourse outside parliament about the country's laws and legal system must be allowed. The verdict on Wednesday states that the amendment of Section 112 must be done in a parliamentary process through elected lawmakers.
The fate of the MFP and the recent ruling have drawn interest from the international community, including 18 ambassadors who met Mr Pita before Wednesday. Indeed, perception from the outside mirrors the world's perception of the conservative establishment's narrative of Thainess.
It must be said that the court verdict also mentioned academics, politicians, and foreign diplomats to show courtesy in criticising laws. This reiterates the Thai state's narrative of Thainess -- that it cannot be challenged, particularly regarding the monarchy.
After the verdict, the European Union and foreign countries, such as the US Department of State, released a statement expressing their concern over the ruling of the Thai Constitutional Court to dissolve the MFP.
The ruling that spelt the end of the MFP gives impetus to the future of Thai democracy. The MFP is no more, yet the desire of younger generations to step beyond traditional Siamese-style democracy remains to ensure that Thailand can, one day, become a full-fledged democracy.
Titipol Phakdeewanich is a political scientist at the Faculty of Political Science at Ubon Ratchathani University.