The Election Commission has approved the termination of the People Reform Party as requested by former leader Paiboon Nititawan.
In a short statement on Monday evening, the EC says the political party registrar looked into related facts and was of the opinion there was a cause for the termination of the party's existence under Section 91(7) of the Political Party Act.
"The EC considered the case and agreed with the registrar so it announced the termination of the party."
It does not elaborate the reason or mention what would happen to Mr Paiboon's status and the votes his party got in the March 22 election.
Section 91(7) provides a party loses its status when its existence is terminated by its regulation.
Mr Paiboon's request to end his party has been closely watched due to its implications on the balance of power in the House and the coalition's stability.
Observers view it could affect parties to be dissolved in the future, in particular Future Forward (FFP), the party most prone to being disbanded due to several accusations against it.
Working creatively is the Future Forward Party's defence, says secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul. (Photo by Varuth Hirunyatheb)
FFP secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said earlier on Monday the party was confident it would not come to that despite the speculation.
Mr Piyabutr tweeted there had been a lot of rumours about this.
"When we go to Parliament, MPs of other parties told us we'll definitely be banned. Pheu Thai also analysed if we are dissolved, a special method will be used to eliminate our party-list MPs from the equation," he wrote.
He added at present the Illuminati case was the only one against his party that had reached the Constitutional Court, which can disband a party.
"The penalty in this case, however, is not party dissolution. Why such rumours then?"
He wrote he was confident the party would live on.
"At our meetings, I always say we'll do our best in our legal fight. However, 'the pen is not with us' — we're not the one with the power to rule," he wrote, toying with the name of an article titled The pen is with it by a former senior judge on how it is eventually judges who decide no matter how many valid reasons and arguments one raises.
The best defence for FFP, he wrote, is to work creatively "to let society see the need to have a party like us", adding even those who dislike it still want to see it live on.
A link between People Reform and FFP was speculated after Mr Paiboon announced the decision to terminate his own party last week and to join Palang Pracharath (PPRP).
Mr Paiboon said he and other members could not continue running the party, which involved finding enough members and setting up offices in all provinces. He also said his party and PPRP had the same key policies — supporting Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha as prime minister and instilling in Thais Lord Buddha's teachings — so it made sense that he joined it.
By law, party mergers are not allowed and an MP cannot move to another party during a House term unless his party is dissolved or he has been voted out by other party members.
It doesn't go into detail whether this applies to party-list or constituency MPs, or both.
The law is also not clear on what will happen to the 45,000 votes Mr Paiboon's party got in the March 22 election.
Pheu Thai and other observers view Mr Paiboon's case creates a win-win chance for PPRP although it may affect its last list MP because Mr Paiboon may replace him.
Due to the legal ambiguities, the Election Commission may send the case to the Constitutional court.
If the court rules Mr Paiboon can join PPRP, it may set a precedent for other nine one-MP microparties to secure seats in a bigger party. If they are all on board, PPRP will no longer have to appease them like they have to now.
But if the court rules Mr Paiboon cannot join PPRP and his status as MP ends with his party, it will also set a precedent for other parties to be disbanded in the future.
With so many petitions and lawsuits against it, FFP is one such party and risks losing all of its 50 list MPs. If it is dissolved by the court, its party-list quota will have to be reallocated to other parties to keep the number at 250 in total.
Since Pheu Thai maxed out on its MP quota — its constituency MPs already filled it — it will not be eligible to any list MP from the reallocation. FFP's quota will therefore go mainly to other large parties — PPRP, Democrat and Bhumjaithai — which happen to be with the coalition.
With 50 more votes in the House, the government will no longer have to worry about its currently razor-thin majority. Since it may lose Mr Paiboon but will gain 50 other MPs in return, the scenario is called 1:50 by observers.